Chantal Chauzy [mailto:chantal @ strandreleasing.com] sent me the details on yesterday’s North American release of the DVD: WHITE PALMS – starring Olympic Champion Kyle Shewfelt and “Uldi” Zoltan Miklos Hajdu (Cirque du Soleil).
I coached with Uldi at Altadore Gymnastics, Kyle’s home club. The movie is very, very loosely based on a true story.
Without question this is the most critically acclaimed gymnastics movie of all time. (Recall Gymkata anyone?)
It may be a long while before another gymnastics film is nominated for an Academy Award.
WHITE PALMS a film by Szabolcs Hajdu
Having suffered as a boy under a brutal Communist-era coach, champion Hungarian gymnast Miklos moves to Canada years later in search of a new start – only to find himself unwittingly perpetuating the very same cycle of abuse among his own pupils.
Redemption appears in the unlikely form of Kyle, a troubled, young Canadian teen with the potential to become a world champion. The friendship and rivalry between teacher and student – each played by actual gymnasts … forms the basis of this gripping, resonant sports drama.
Beautifully shot and edited, effortlessly evoking its respective time-periods, and through them, the clash of different cultures and values, WHITE PALMS made its international premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2006 and was the official Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award®.
White Palms (DVD): $27.99 100 minutes … In English and Hungarian with English Subtitles
Also starring Orion Radies, Silas Radies, Gheorghe Dinica.
Directors’ Fortnight – CANNES International Film Festival
Official Selection – TORONTO International Film Festival
Special Mention- Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The New York Times called the film “Beautiful†and The Village Voice “Riveting!â€
White Palms – Amazon.com
Gymnastics Coaching.com 