Documentary Profiling Female Native American Basketball Star
Sets Digital Debut for North American VOD Platforms and DVD on August 1, 2023
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has acquired North American VOD rights to the sports documentary BIG CROW. BIG CROW will be available to rent/own on all digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms in North America, as well on DVD, starting on August 1, 2023, through Freestyle Digital Media. Initially premiering at 2022’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival, BIG CROW’s accolades include an Anchorage International Jury Award, a Seattle Film Festival Jury Award, and the Fargo Film Festival Prairie Spirit Award.
BIG CROW is a vérité-style documentary that tells the story of how young Lakota basketball star SuAnne Big Crow became an activist, and how her message of hope continues to help her people reclaim their culture 30 years after her death. Part biography and part social commentary, BIG CROW is a story about the power of hope in the most destitute place in America, South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Found in the poorest county in America, Pine Ridge is plagued by rampant drug, alcohol, and sexual abuse which drives the highest teen suicide rate in the country. Access to healthy food and health care is virtually non-existent, and the Lakota there continue to experience the oppressive racism that outlawed their religion, language, and traditions 130 years ago. It’s possible that there has never been a people more in need of a hero than SuAnne’s Lakota tribe.
By age 14, SuAnne Big Crow had become one of South Dakota’s best basketball players, leading her Pine Ridge Lady Thorpes to become the first ever Native American state champions. By age 17, her social activism had made her a household name across the Great Plains. Thirty years after her tragic death, SuAnne’s pride in her people continues to galvanize the Lakota in their fight to save their language and reclaim their culture.
Directed by Kris Kaczor, BIG CROW was written by Inila Wakan and produced by Kevin Bayson. Walter Matteson served as executive producer. The documentary features extensive interviews with those who knew Suanne best while also demonstrating how her legend continues to inspire her alma mater’s contemporary team.
“Kevin and I are thrilled to have a partner like Freestyle Digital Media distribute BIG CROW,” said filmmaker Kris Kaczor. “The struggles of contemporary life on Indian reservations remain a mystery to most North Americans, and Freestyle’s reach will amplify SuAnne Big Crow’s message that there is a better way while garnering much-needed support for Native American communities across North America in their fight to reclaim their language and culture.”
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire BIG CROW with Alex Nohe of Blood Sweat and Honey.
BIG CROW website: www.bigcrowfilm.com
BIG CROW trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=
About Freestyle Digital Media
The digital distribution unit of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films. Recent releases include DEAR ZOE starring Sadie Sink from the hit Netflix series STRANGER THINGS, Jessica Capshaw and Theo Rossi, BEST SUMMER EVER the teen musical featuring a fully integrated cast and crew of people with and without disabilities, produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson, THE WEDDING YEAR starring Sarah Hyland and Anna Camp, THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH starring Danny Houston, BERSERK starring Nick Cannon, UNTOGETHER starring Jamie Doran, Jemima Kirke, Ben Mendelsohn, Alice Eve and Billy Crystal. Other Freestyle titles include the action-comedy BETTER START RUNNING starring Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons and Maria Bello, THE BACHELORS starring Academy Award-winner J.K. Simmons, Julie Delpy and Odeya Rush, the award-winning documentary HONDROS produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and Jake Gyllenhaal, horror documentary DEMON HOUSE starring Zak Bagans, host of Travel Channel’s highest rated show Ghost Adventures, sci-fi thriller THE RECALL starring Wesley Snipes, MILES starring Molly Shannon and Paul Reiser.
