Hoop Dreams Hits the Big Screen for Fifteenth Anniversary!

It's hard to imagine that 15 years have passed since Hoop Dreams made its documentary slam dunk premier at Sundance and subsequently scored big at the box office.

The engaging sports documentary is still enormously popular on DVD. It's applauded not only by fans who boost for basketball, but by everyone who loves a good underdog-to-topdog story. Thanks to Thom Powers' Stranger Than Fiction Series at NYC's IFC Center, Hoop Dreams again scores on the big screen -- for one night only on Monday, November 9. See it if you can!

Hoop Dreams follows two teenage guys, William Gates and Arthur Agee, who shoot hoops on the street courts of inner-city Chicago and who, given the opportunity to attend a suburban prep school and play basketball for its legendary coach, find that their dreams of NBA glory temporarily tempered by adjusting to academic demands, family pressures, economic realities and the intense competition of high school sports. Their problems are gripping, their triumphs inspiring.Hoop Dreams was recently named to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry, signifying its enduring importance to the history of American film.

Screening information: Monday, November 9, 2009 at 7 pm at the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10014, (212) 924-7771. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Hoop Dreams's producer, Peter Gilbert. Meanwhile, watch the trailer.

(PHOTO: Arthur Agee in 'Hoop Dreams.' Courtesy Fine Line).