Event

SLIFF - Medora

Medora
Davy Rothbart & Andrew Cohn, U.S., 2013, 100 min.
Sunday, Nov. 24, 6 p.m., Webster U./Moore
Years ago, Medora, Ind., was a booming rural community with prosperous farms and industries and a thriving middle class. The factories have since closed, crippling Medora's economy and its pride, and the population has slowly dwindled to around 500 people. Drug use is common, the school faces consolidation, and as one resident put it, "This town's on the ropes." "Medora" co-directed by Found Magazine editor, essayist, and "This American Life" contributor Davy Rothbart follows the down-but-not-out Medora Hornets varsity basketball team over the course of the 2010-11 season, capturing the players' stories both on and off the court. The Hornets are riding a 44-game losing streak when the film begins, and the team's struggle to compete bears eerie parallels with the town's fight for survival. An in-depth, deeply personal look at small-town life, "Medora" is a real-life, modern-day "Hoosiers," an inspiring tale of a community refusing to give up hope despite the brutal odds stacked against them. With co-director Rothbart.