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Tara is thirteen. She likes to go to the mall. . .and she wrestles boys. On her journey to the national championships, she battles critics who believe girls shouldn't wrestle boys; she struggles with her father' s drive for her to succeed; and she fights with her own body to control her weight.
GIRL WRESTLER is an hour-long documentary by Austin director and producer Diane Zander that follows Tara Neal, a Texas teenager who challenges cultural expectations of what sport she, as a girl, should compete in and with whom she should wrestle. It follows a crucial period in Tara's wrestling career - the last year that she is allowed to wrestle boys. When Tara enters high school, her opportunities to compete will virtually disappear under state guidelines because so few girls wrestle.
From allegations of referee bias against girl wrestlers to coaches who proclaim their vehement hatred of Title IX, the federal statute that grants women's athletics proportionality in public schools, GIRL WRESTLER personalizes the clash of gender and sports in American culture and, in particular, the current policy debates over Title IX. Tara navigates the same environment of hostility that produced the recent lawsuit by the National Wrestling Coaches Association against the Department of Education to repeal Title IX.
Over the course of the season, Tara confronts personal struggles that range from her family to controlling her weight. Ultimately, Tara's story highlights the universal nature of such conflicts, as well as illuminating such broader social issues as the social construction of masculinity and femininity, athleticism and eating disorders, gender discrimination in organized athletics, and the meaning and value of sport in American culture.
GIRL WRESTLER will have its world premiere in the upcoming South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, before touring in documentary and video festivals nationwide. The schedule for the documentary at South By Southwest is as follows:
11 a.m. Sunday, March 9 at the Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress Avenue (between 7th and 8th). Screening will be followed by a Q&A; with director-producer Diane Zander. Single tickets available for $6 one hour prior to the screening at the Paramount box office, 713 Congress Avenue, 512-476-6064.
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12 at the Paramount Theatre (address above) as part of the Texas Documentary Tour, co-sponsored by the Austin Film Society. Screening will be open captioned for deaf and hearing-impaired audiences. To be followed by a Q&A; with Diane Zander. Single tickets will be available for $6 one hour prior to the screening at the Paramount box office, information above.
4 p.m. Saturday, March 15 at the Austin Convention Center, 4th Street at Trinity. Screening will be open captioned for deaf and hearing-impaired audiences. To be followed by a Q&A; with Diane Zander. Single tickets available for $6 one hour prior to screening at the ticket window.
GIRL WRESTLER is the latest project of Diane Zander, a lecturer in media production at the University of Texas at Austin who previously worked on the Emmy award-winning documentary MOVING STORIES. Her film and video work has been shown at festivals across the country and she also has lectured at international conferences on feminist documentary practice.
For more information, please contact Mary Beltrán at (512) 912-9571 or mcbeltran@earthlink.net, or Diane Zander at 512/471-4952 or d-zander@mail.utexas.edu.
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