ALTHEA, an homage to the late tennis champion Althea Gibson, premiered at the 2014 DOC NYC festival and caught everyone's attention. Through the lens of Director Rex Miller (producer of A Chef's Life), ALTHEA artfully portrays the life of Harlem's 11-time Grand Slam champ, her trials and tribulations faced and the people who still remember her fondly. See more in our review. After the world premiere, Cine & Heard caught up with Director Rex Miller about the film, its relevance in today's world and how coincidences played a crucial part in bringing it to fruition.
C&H: What was your inspiration for the film?
RM: There was a picture of my mom and Althea Gibson. My mom was Jamaican. [She and Althea] had their tennis whites on and are standing on the grass courts of the Merion Crickett Club. My mom just lost in the first round [to Althea]; she was a good club player. I always knew Althea's story. About ten years ago, I left New York and was visiting Wilmington, NC. And while I was there, somebody said, 'Oh, you play tennis, don't you? That's the house where Althea Gibson used to live.' I was like, 'are you kidding me?' At the same time, I wound up living in Wilmington and never left. I can't say that I moved because of Althea, but I wound up staying there.
C&H: Did you find that it was serendipitous in a way?
RM: It was just an amazing story to learn that she's from right there. Yes - it's serendipitous. A few years later, I was looking for a new project and had gone through boxes in storage. In one of them, there was the Althea photo. By that point, I was [mentally] already making this film. Everyone has their own tennis story and journey. How do you pictorially illustrate someone's life when, before age 18, there are zero photographs, videos and interviews of her? I'm a photographer. Sifting through and researching [photos of Althea in her adult years] for two to three years was a great pleasure for me.
C&H: You mentioned taking a journey. Why do you think it's important for us as viewers to kind of take this journey with ALTHEA or learn more about her life and great achievements?
RM: Oh, man - she just had the most amazing journey. She started out in the cotton fields, and her parents were sharecroppers. Years later, she got the Wimbledon trophy from the Queen of England. She had a ticker tape parade. Music is a big part of her journey; she spent time at the Apollo Club and [Sugar Ray Robinson's] jazz club.
C&H: What was it like having Billie Jean King as one of your executive producers? You mentioned bringing her on-board during one of your interviews.
RM: I interviewed Billie Jean three times in one year. How much fun is that? I used to watch her play and win the US Open. She's long been a hero of mine. I asked her 'would you be the film's executive producer?' And her response was 'it'd be my absolutely pleasure.' You can tell when she talks about Althea that she really liked her because she was really different. Althea let Billie Jean King also know that she could do it [and become a tennis great]. Althea is one of her '[s]heroes'.
C&H: I really like in the movie how you blended all of the aspects together: The archival footage, live interviews with people who were contemporaries of Althea's and just that overall scope. How do you think that the reception will be?
RM: The response has been that we 'got it right'. My favorite response so far is that [a screening guest] cried a few times. And he's a tough New York guy. For me, that was better than being reviewed in The New York Times, although that would be fine as well.
To learn more about ALTHEA or to become involved in screening the film in your neighborhood, e-mail Mr. Miller: rexpixfilmatearthlink.net. View the trailer; stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter. And above all, hit some tennis balls and keep Althea's memory alive. - LIZ KOBAK