Sportsfan

NEW DOCS

You may have seen them on TV, faces painted wild, absurdly costumed in their team’s colors, brandishing flags like warriors ready to splatter their innards in battle, every pulsating vein in their bodies throbbing with that primal scream: ARRRGHHHHH!!! A scream that if translated into English would fill volumes of writings on Death, Eros, Belonging, Mass Culture, Fascism, and the possible fall of every Empire since spectator sport was invented. Or, skip the library and be seduced by *Sportsfan*,a year in the life of a group of hard-core Minnesota Vikings fans. Theirs is not a tale of mass hysteria, but of personal tragedies and grand delusions. Maybe it’s their Midwest manners—that mix of American innocence and steadfast faith in the impossible—coupled with a dark and sweet Beckett-like sense of humor that gives this entertaining film its veneer of surrealism. It might be just enough to forever change your idea of what a fanatic can be.  RR

Director

Aaron Lubarsky

Producers

Aaron Lubarsky, Rich Korson, Chris McShane

Executive Producers

Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin

Release Year

2006

Festival Year

2007

Country

United States

Run Time

66 minutes