In this documentary spanning four years, director Cara Perlman charts the path that women's ski jumping took to become a part of the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games, a tough road as evidenced by International Ski Federation President Gian-Franco Kasper's 2006 observation that the sport is "not appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view.” Perlman spends 2006-10 focusing on five competitors from Park City, UT: Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome, Alissa Johnson, Brenna Ellis, and Abby Hughes. Coach Casey Colby admits that he can be tough on the women, but they need his guidance to make their jumps count (they hit speeds of 40-50 mph before sailing off into the atmosphere). When the International Olympic Committee votes against inclusion, the quintet falls into a funk, but Women's Ski Jumping USA President Deedee Corradini vows to keep fighting, and in the coming years, she joins forces with the Canadian government and the Human Rights Commission in a discrimination lawsuit against the Vancouver Olympics. After Jerome suffers an injury and Colby leaves due to personal reasons, further conflicts and mishaps continue to plague the team, which also lands a new coach, Norway's Kjell Magnusson. As the years pass, younger skiers such as Sarah Hendrickson step in as older ones leave (in the intervening years, Hendrickson has become the top-ranked female ski jumper in the world). If the original five had had a chance to compete in 2006 or 2010, they might have made more of a mark, but it was their efforts that ultimately helped to change the rules. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)
110%
(2010) 58 min. DVD: $24.95. Passion River (avail. from most distributors). Volume 28, Issue 4
110%
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