As a kind of extra event at this year’s ActionFest, the Asheville Film Society is presenting a screening of the documentary The Other Dream Team at a special benefit showing for Homeward Bound of Asheville, at which UNCA basketball coach Eddie Biedenbach and his team will be presented with the first annual “Heart of Asheville” award. Here are the details.
The Asheville Film Society is pleased to announce the presentation on Sunday, April 15, of the first annual “Heart of Asheville” award, to be given to UNC Asheville men’s basketball head coach Eddie Biedenbach and his 2011-2012 Bulldogs basketball team. Immediately following the ceremony, the A.F.S. will present a special screening of the feature documentary film The Other Dream Team. Straight from its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, The Other Dream Team honors the spirit of the underdog and the ideals of perseverance as it chronicles the magical bronze medal run of the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team. All of the proceeds from this special screening will be contributed to Homeward Bound of Asheville to aid in the fight against homelessness in our community.
The Heart of Asheville award pays tribute to those who distinguish themselves with remarkable civic contributions to our community. Coach Biedenbach and his Bulldogs brought enormous civic pride to the city of Asheville this year as both Big South Conference regular season and tournament champions, and with their near upset of the number one seeded Syracuse Orange in the NCAA tournament. “We at the Asheville Film Society are grateful for the opportunity to honor this team and its coach for their remarkable season and what their efforts meant to the Asheville community,” said Bill Banowsky, Founder of the Asheville Film Society. “This team and its successes contributed significantly to a sense of community pride. This is ‘Asheville’s Dream Team,’ and we are pleased to pay tribute to them.”
The awards ceremony will begin Sunday, April 15, at 1:30 pm in the parking lot of The Carolina Asheville during this weekend’s ActionFest film festival, beginning with an appearance by the world-famous Rocketman, flying above the crowd with the aid of his jet-fueled rocketbelt. At 1:45pm, immediately following the awards ceremony, AFS will screen The Other Dream Team at The Carolina Asheville. A film about sports, politics, pop culture and freedom, The Other Dream Team is the extraordinary story of the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team, whose athletes struggled under Soviet rule and became symbols of Lithuania’s independence movement, and, with help from the Grateful Dead, triumphed at the Barcelona Olympics. R.Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter calls it “much more than a sports film. The Other Dream Team is a rousing document of how one oppressed country reclaimed its identity and won its freedom in large part through its basketball prowess. Truly, one of the most glorious moments in Olympic history was the Lithuanian team standing on the podium to receive their bronze medal, decked out in Grateful Dead tie-dyed finery.”
A limited number of tickets are available to the general public for this screening, available for a suggested donation of $10, with all proceeds going to Homeward Bound of Asheville, a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to end homelessness by placing people into permanent housing. Tickets are available at The Carolina Asheville box office.
Ken have you heard anything about Asheville gettin getting the new Whit Stillman picture?
Not so far. I’ll see what I can find out.