ZINA
After winning the 1982 Wimbledon and US Open Junior titles at 17, Zina Garrison soared to a World No. 1 ranking. Her success was forged in struggle, battling self-doubt and financial hardship, all while concealing a deeply personal truth.

 

 

Billie Jean King is an icon as a titan of tennis as well as off the court through her commitment to social change around gender and sexuality. Through this intimate documentary by filmmakers Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff (Academy Award-nominated What Happened, Miss Simone?), King opens up about the sacrifices she had to make as a trailblazer against a backdrop of misogyny, revelations about her own sexual orientation, and struggles with an eating disorder. The acclaimed tennis player came to a new level of pop-culture prominence through her famous match at the Astrodome in Houston for the “Battle of the Sexes”, but continued to push towards equality with each interview and career move. Through the use of rarely seen archival footage and unbridled access, Give Me the Ball! is a portrait of pushing through adversity and the weight of being “the first.”