TRAILERS

'On the Map' Documentary Trailer About the Israeli Basketball Team

by Alex Billington
October 6, 2016
Source: YouTube

"We are on the map. And we will stay on the map! Not only in sports, but in everything!" That was the iconic line spoken by Israeli basketball player Tal Brody after his team won the European Championship in 1977. On the Map is a documentary that profiles the successful victory of the Israeli basketball team in the 1970s, an amazing feat that actually did help put Israel "on the map" - at least in sports history. This looks like it has glorious old school footage from the matches, as well as some great interviews with many of the players who are still alive today. Israeli figures from outside the sports world, including former ambassador Michael Oren, politician Yair Lapid and former refusenik Natan Sharansky, all recall what TV commentator Alex Giladi calls "the end of Israeli sport losing with honor." If you're into sports docs, check this out below.

Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Dani Menkin's documentary On the Map, direct from YouTube:

Before 1980's "Miracle on Ice," an Israeli team's equally unlikely victory over a Soviet basketball team was dubbed the "Miracle on Hardwood." After winning, magnetic Israeli team captain Tal Brody, a high NBA draft pick, exclaimed in American-accented Hebrew, "We are on the map, not only in sports, but in everything!" That phrase and the Maccabi Tel Aviv team, a combination of NBA also-rans and Israeli players, rallied a nation in its David-and-Goliath pursuit of the 1977 European Championship. Director Dani Menkin remembers that this much-needed morale boost occured amid a sagging economy, only a few years after the tragic 1972 massacre in Munich and Israel's draining Yom Kippur War. He brings together most of the members of that year's team, some of whom are still living in Israel, including Brody and African American Aulcie Perry, who converted to Judaism while on the team. On the Map is directed by Israeli filmmaker Dani Menkin (39 Pounds of Love, Dolphin Boy, Is That You?). The film will premiere at the 2016 San Franciscco Jewish Film Festival, then open in select theaters fall 2016. Visit their official site.

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