Director's Statement

I am thirteen years old, and I am running on green grass with dirt stained white cleats, under a sky that is blue in the middle, pink at its edges with orange clouds speckled throughout. This is my first year playing football, and it teaches me how to be one of the boys: never cry, get back up after a hard hit, give as good as you get, and cuss whenever possible. After many practices, a high school graduation, and a move to New York, I still like to think I am one of those boys, since I come back to those days often. Days of masquerading my prepubescent toughness like a badge. Days of pretending like the bonds formed did not go deeper than the blue skies, pink horizons, and orange clouds those memories were made under, and now that I have distance from that time, I’ve realized those blue skies held deep emotion. 

Sport Star is a story that finds its roots in those moments and how they progress into adulthood in my hometown of Gloucester, Virginia. This story is about coming to terms with love in a place that dictates what love should look like. It’s about two people I’m sure that I would’ve played football with. This is a story about being gay in Gloucester, Virginia, never reckoning with one’s sexuality, and being in love in a place that refuses to accept it. It’s a story that, I hope, brings attention to the need for self-acceptance.

Ellis Finney