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Give Me the Ball!

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United States2025101 minEnglish
Give Me the Ball!

World champion tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King has had a game-changing impact on culture and sports. Rare archive and candid interviews with Billie Jean and those closest to her reveal how one woman put changing the world ahead of saving herself.

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World champion tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King has had a game-changing impact on culture and sports. Rare archive and candid interviews with Billie Jean and those closest to her reveal how one woman put changing the world ahead of saving herself.

The story of professional women’s sports could not be told without Billie Jean King. Her status is so iconic, some might lose sight of the real human being — her struggles, her flaws, and her all-consuming, competitive drive. In fighting for equity for herself and others, King was uncompromising, to the point of subordinating her personal well-being by hiding her sexual orientation and eating disorders. Directors Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff present Billie Jean King in full, in her own words, and with archival footage that brings the dark times and indelible victories to life again. With refreshing honesty and the hard-won perspective of having lived through it all, Give Me the Ball! is an electric portrait of one of the greatest of all time. — SS

Available in person only. 

PremieresAll FeaturesBiographyLGBTQ+ StoriesWomen-Centered StoriesNonfictionAudio DescriptionClosed CaptionOpen CaptionU.S. Only- less

Credits

  • Director(s)

    Liz Garbus

    Elizabeth Wolff

  • Producers

    Liz Garbus

    Elizabeth Wolff

    Dominic Crossley-Holland

    Dan Cogan

    Chris James

    Gentry Kirby

  • Executive Producers

    Jon Bardin

    Tommy Coriale

    Louis Mole

    Isabel Davis

    Jay de Andrade

    Ben Lampkin

    Heather Anderson

    Marsha Cooke

    Brian Lockhart

    Burke Magnus

  • Co-Executive Producer

    Seth Abraham

  • Edited by

    Joshua L. Pearson

  • Director of Photography

    Thorsten Thielow

    Tony Hardmon

  • Music by

    Laura Karpman

  • Archival Producers

    Helen R. Russell

    Andrew Mayz

  • Associate Producer

    Charlotte Zonis

  • Contact

    Ryan Mazie

    ryanmaziepr@gmail.com

Meet the Artist

Panelist Name

Liz Garbus

    Liz Garbus is a two-time Emmy Award–winning and two-time Academy Award–nominated filmmaker. She has helmed celebrated genre-defying documentaries and premium drama series as a director and executive producer under her company Story Syndicate.

    Panelist Name

    Elizabeth Wolff

      Elizabeth Wolff is drawn to the ways stories from the past help us make sense of the world today. Named one of DOC NYC’s 2023 “40 Under 40,” she specializes in adapting biography, memoir, and political histories into documentaries and has collaborated with Liz Garbus on several acclaimed projects.

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