Arriving on Netflix tomorrow,Rez Ballis a significant contemporary piece that is set in the beautiful Navajo Nation and pays tribute to the Native community. Helmed bySydney Freeland,Rez Ballfollows a down-on-their-luck basketball team, fronted byKusem Goodwind’s Nataanii Jackson, as they re-invent their entire approach to the game in hopes of a win. By integrating the Native language and drawing on their culture, the team develops a unique twist on their playing style and dubs it “Rez Ball.”
Director Freeland talks about her approach to building this community and team during theToronto International Film Festival2024 as she sits with Collider’sSteve Weintraub. They are also joined by cast membersKauchani Bratt,Jessica Matten,Julia JonesandDevin Sampson-Craig,who all talk about what drew them to this script and admire how it has inspired the Native population and youth. Matten also teases her involvement inAang: The Last Airbender, where she is cast as Katara and wishes to do the character justice. Hear about the cast and crew’s experience mentoring each other on set, or you can read about it in the transcript below.
‘Rez Ball’ Is Significant For Native Representation
COLLIDER: Congratulations onRez Ball. This is one of those films that I’m really happy that you guys are here. I hate always talking about representation, but it’s really, really important and this is a great story. Everyone watching will have not seen the film yet. How have you been describing it to friends and family?
SYDNEY FREELAND: The initial concept of the film, we always talked about it as a sort ofFriday Night Lightswith basketball and Natives. That’s the brief summary for it.
For all of you guys, because again, no one has seen it yet, can you sort of talk a little bit about the character you play, and actually what drew you into the project? What was it about the script that said, I need to be in this?
DEVIN SAMPSON-CRAIG: I played Bryson Bodonie. Bryson is a young Indian boy who is already a father; he’s a young father. He’s a lovable dude, but also, he talks a lot of talk. He’s a leader on the team; he’s a leader off the court as well. What really drew me to Bryson and his character and the script was that all over Indian Country, I see this character. I’ve seen this person before in real life, and in some realms of his life, I’ve also been this character before. What really drew me to Bryson was thatI’ve obviously seen myself in his shoes, and I’ve seen other people in his shoes. As an actor, I was able to train myself to bring different aspects of people I’ve seen in my life as well as myself and then just assemble into Bryson.
KAUCHANI BRATT: I play Jimmy Holiday. He’s a resilient kid from the Navajo reservation, and we see him navigate difficult situations on and off the court. Ultimately, the challenges and the adversity that he faces, we see him rise to the challenge. What really drew me to this movie was when I first saw on Instagram that it was going to be made, I knew that I really wanted to be a part of it, even if it was just as a background character. BesidesReservation Dogsat the time,I had never seen any contemporary Native films being made at this sort of level.As far as the story and the scripts, when I read it for the first time, I was running around my room, and I could visually see it. It was something that I knew I had to be a part of.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to see this announcement on Instagram, then the journey of all of a sudden being like, “I’m gonna be the lead.”
BRATT: Yeah, it was a roller coaster for sure. Luckily, I had Sydney Freeland and Amber Midthunder — all these really supportive pillars along the process. They all believed in me and urged me to keep on going. Luckily, I’m here talking to you, and I’m on this couch with all these beautiful people. It’s really amazing.
Congratulations.
BRATT: Thank you very much.
‘Rez Ball’ Inspires Native Communities and Youths in Meaningful Ways
“Showing people examples of what they could be that they didn’t know before”
And continuing…
JESSICA MATTEN: I play coach Heather Hobbs, a former WNBA player who decides to go back to her reservation and help this team succeed. One thing that really drew me to the film is, actually just snowballing off of what Kauchani said, that I think these two are living examples of what a film like this can do for not just the community, but individuals — making their dreams come true and now opening this entire new world of possibilities for them. That’s one thing that really draws me to the making of anything in the film and TV business. Just to be part of astory that resonates so deeply close to our communities, tackling issues with suicide, mental health, in particular amongst young men,is something that I work with within the indigenous communities outside of acting myself. I have been my whole life. To be a part of a film that Sydney created and to have someone like Sydney who guided us through the entire process and just to be such an incredible leader was just a blessing. I really hope that this film is a blessing in so many other ways for so many of our communities on a national level.
JULIA JONES: I play Gloria Holiday, who is Jimmy’s mother, and she was a high school basketball star. She played basketball with Heather when they were growing up. Then she had a series of events that made her fall off, and she’s struggling with that in this film, and we see this arc. That’s one of the things that I was the most drawn to was this character, Gloria. I was also immediately drawn to working with Sydney on a script that she wrote with Sterlin Harjo, and then with Netflix with a budget, with this platform. That was a combination that I really can’t think of having read recently at all. It was very, very special immediately.Sydney gave me this opportunity to play something I’ve never played beforeand a role that could have gone in a number of directions. The way that she is written and her dynamics with her son, I found so heartwarming and special. When I read something, and it touches me so deeply, and I’m not sure why, that’s when I’m really the most drawn to it because then I get to find out why.
You were just saying, Jessica, aboutshowing people examples of what they could be that they didn’t know before. Iwatchedthat happen making this film with these kids who came out. The biggest takeaway for me was literally getting to see that in front of my eyes. It actually madememore hopeful and more excited, and more invested in things that maybe I was a little cynical about from having been around for a little while. I’m even more grateful and astonished by this project and everything that has come so far from it and that will continue to come from it than I expected when I read it.
There Will Be No “White Savior” in ‘Rez Ball’
“We don’t wanna f— with that.”
Sydney, one of the things that I love about the sports genre is that there are so many sports fans, and you are able to give them sports, but you’re also able to shine a light on so many things that are not just about the basketball game. Talk about what drew you to this genre to tell this story and how you’re allowed in this genre to explore so many other things in that umbrella.
FREELAND: The conversations that we had very early on, Sterlin and myself, we knew we weren’t gonna re-invent the sports genre, right? It wasn’t gonna be in the “what,” it was gonna be the opportunity to explore different ideas — it was gonna be in the “how.” I think a great example of that is Coach Heather Hobbs. One of the things that we’re both very adamant about is thatwe did not want to have the “white savior” character coming from off the reservationthat’s gonna come inDangerous Minds-style and teach the inner-city kids to discover themselves. No, we don’t wanna fuck with that.
We knew the coach was gonna be somebody from the community, somebody who understood what these kids are going through. But that choice had all of these positive consequences. Because you’re dealing with a sports film, then you have the typical tropes. “Here’s the part where they’re losing, here’s the part where they’re winning. Here’s the part where they’re overcoming adversity.” That’s where the opportunity came.If you have a coach who’s from the community, then her solutions have to be oriented that way.
As we started pulling on these different threads, that’s where you get these different ideas for something, like, “She’s not gonna take them off the reservation to visit a museum or something.” No,she’s gonna find a solution inside— that’s where you get something like a Sheep Camp; that’s where you get something like where they use the Native language to call plays during a game. The more we pull at the thread, the more these positive consequences came from all that. That’s one example of how adhering to the sports genre was actually a good thing.
Shooting on Navajo Nation Was More Than Location
The other thing that’s really cool is that you guys filmed on Navajo Nation in New Mexico, which obviously is great for the community. It shines a light, and it’s great. Talk a little bit about being able to film there and, for all of you, what it meant to actually film there and how the community embraced you in telling this story.
FREELAND: For myself, I grew up there; I played Rez Ball; I played basketball — I was not very good, but I played. We ran into some hesitation early on of, like, “Well, can we shoot on the reservation? I don’t know if it’s possible. There are the logistics involved and everything.” For myself, it was like, “No, no,we have to shoot on the reservation.It’s notCity Ball, it’sRez Ball. It’s notStudio Ball, it’sRez Ball.” Thankfully, we were able to make that happen because there are these intangibles to being there in the location with the physical geography. Not to sound cliché, but the location is a character. If you have that as a foundation, all these other things get to come out. Devin is from a rez; Kauchani spent time on a reservation; we’re all Native here. So, being back in that environment almost gave them permission to slip back into that authenticity. That, in and of itself, was probably one of the most crucial things for the entire production: shooting on the reservation.
I’m not sure if anyone wants to add anything about actually shooting on the reservation and the way the community embraced you or not.
MATTEN: I’ve actually been doing a TV series out there on the Navajo Nation, and we’ve had the President come down for our TV show calledDark Winds. So, I got really familiar within the last three years of the culture and just how different the ways are. As Native people, we all have our practices, and I just assumed all of our practices were the same — I couldn’t be more wrong. It was just an honor to go back to what’s been my second home in a lot of ways for the last three years. To just continue to honor Sydney’s people and the land, it felt very welcoming and comforting to be there, to be a part of it again and to serve it some more honor with this film.
‘Dark Winds’ Season 3: Everything We Know So Far About Leaphorn and Chee’s Next Chapter
The story of Leaphorn and Chee is not over yet.
‘Rez Ball’ Is Devin Sampson-Craig’s and Kauchani Bratt’s Acting Debut
“Jessica and Julia really helped mentor behind the scenes.”
So, you see the shooting schedule in front of you. What day do you have circled in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this,” and what day do you have circled in terms of, “How the F are we going to film this?”
FREELAND: Every day. [Laughs]
BRATT: There was this one scene in particular — it’s one of the opening scenes — where we’re all on the bus, and you get an introduction to all the Rez Ball, all the Chuska Warriors. We shot it towards the end of the shoot. Throughout the whole time, we’d just been running lines here and there, so I knew his lines, he knew my lines, and it’s kind of that way. That one I had circled; I think everyone had that one circled. We finally were able to shoot it, and it’s pretty funny because one of the kids, Kusem Goodwind, had taken off maybe a week or two from set, and it was his first time back. During the shoot, he couldnotstop laughing, which is pretty funny because we had prepared so much for this moment, and he just could not get the giggles out. Sydney had to calm him down. We were finally able to get the shot, but I think that was one that everyone was looking forward to.
JONES: What I was looking forward to was the last scene of the film where — this is gonna be hard to talk about without giving it away. I should have picked something different. [Laughs] It’s a completely different vibe and environment for my character, and she’s just in a different space. I got to really… What can I say?
FREELAND: Crush it? [Laughs]
JONES [Laughs] We just had so much fun. It was really light, and I think after a lot of scenes that were not light for my character, I was just really relishing getting to be free and like a kid in the scene with Kauchani.
I know what scene you’re talking about. Sorry audience, but you may watch the movie on Netflix on September 27th.
FREELAND: One of the things, too, was we had a very contracted schedule. There were days when we were doing one, two, three location moves in a single day with an already truncated, abbreviated schedule. These guys showed up and they showed out. With such limited time, you come in, you’re getting a couple of takes at most at something. For Devin and Kauchani, it was their first time ever on a film set. Jessica and Julia really helped mentor behind the scenes, as well. One of the thingsI’m really proud of all these guys for is just coming in and nailing stuff on such a tight, limited schedule. You guys didn’t even know how tight the schedule was because it was your first shoot. You guys did amazing.
JONES: That was one of my favorite parts about this. This was one of my most fun experiences, making this film, and it felt like an independent film. I find that sometimes,when you have a limited amount of time, everybody has to innovate.Things come up and things happen that you’re not expecting, and it winds up going from good enough or great to, “Whoa, the ceiling’s off.” I had that experience a couple of times, at least, on this film. Some of it has to do with having a bunch of people who are there because theywantto be and having constraints, and everyone has to just come together and figure it out. It’s exhilarating. It makes it fun and exciting.
Jessica Matten Is Katara in ‘Aang: The Last Airbender’
“I really just hope I serve it justice.”
I have to ask you an individual question. I believe you’re doing a voice inAang: The Last Airbender. Talk a little bit about being able to be a part of that because that’s something that means so much to so many people.
MATTEN: I’m really honored.
FREELAND: What character?
MATTEN: I’m playing Katara.
Did you not know this?
FREELAND: No, I did.
MATTEN: Sydney’s reppin'.
FREELAND: I’m a big fan — of Jessica and the series.
MATTEN: It’s really cool. I actually got to meet Eric Nam, who’s playing Aang, a couple of weeks ago in LA, and he’s a nice human. I met Dave Bautista a couple of years ago in Toronto; I met Dave briefly in Toronto just through mutual friends. He’s a great guy, too, so I’m really excited that it’s just a cast of incredible people, really kind. That’s what you want to do. You want to be working with kind, cool people on projects. I’m looking forward to that. I learned more about whatAvatar: The Last Airbenderwas for people just by honestly booking this role.I really just hope I serve it justice and I hope people like what I do.I just don’t want to let anyone down, that’s all.
It has a very passionate fan base.
MATTEN: There is, and I love that.
BRATT: I’m one of those people.
‘Aang: The Last Airbender’ Brings the Four Nations Together at Licensing Expo
Paramount also brought ‘Smurfs,’ ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ and more to the event. See the new promo images here.
Did you know?
BRATT: No! When we were on set, she was auditioning for it. Is that right?
MATTEN: Actually, I was in my callbacks duringRez Ball.
BRATT: When she was telling me about it, I was over the moon. I was like, “That’s so amazing!”
MATTEN: I was like, “Well, I didn’t get ityet.”
BRATT: I knew she was going to get it, andI knew she was going to kill it. I’m super excited to see it, just as a fan of the series.
Rez Ballwill be available to stream on Netflix on September 27 in the U.S.
The Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from New Mexico, must band together after losing their star player if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive.
