Breaking Balls is a 75-minute feature length documentary film about the game the Italians call bocce as viewed through the lens of the 30th Anniversary Cleveland Challenge Cup of Bocce tournament. The Challenge Cup is one of the largest bocce events in North America, and is held every year at the Wickliffe Italian-American Club in Wickliffe, Ohio, the last weekend of August.
Breaking Balls follows three key figures in the lead up to and aftermath of the 30th anniversary of the Challenge Cup: Gino Latessa, the Tournament Director; Brian Polantz, a world class bocce player from Mayfield, Ohio; and Dominic Olivo, the head groundskeeper at the Wickliffe Italian-American Club.
These three storylines all come together at the 30th annual Challenge Cup Tournament, where we learn ultimately that bocce isn’t just a quaint, backyard sport—it’s a unique cultural tradition, a community of players, supporters and fans, who are the soul of this unique sport, nurturing and passing down from one generation to the next their love and appreciation of this special game. They are the heart of this documentary.
For more info on the film, check out the Facebook page at facebook.com/Breaking-Balls-1805652553031804/
