Thanks go out this morning to the folks at ESPN Communications and congratulations go out to Vlade Divac and filmmaker Michael Tolajian, whose documentary film “Jednom braća” (“Once Brothers”) has been confirmed as part of ESPN’s high-profile “30 for 30” documentary film series. The addition of Tolajian’s film to the series had been reported by Serbia media earlier this week.
The “30 for 30” series features medium-length films on a sports subject; among the notable names contributing directorial skills to the series are Barry Levinson, Steve Nash, Ice Cube and Morgan Freeman.
Focus of “Once Brothers” is the success and dissolution of the great Yugoslavia teams of the late 1980s/early 1990s became embroiled in war. Divac and the legendary Drazen Petrovic had been close as Team Yugoslavia piled up victories in international play, but they “stopped talking […]and the nationalistic rhetorics in both countries must have influenced them, just like many other friends and colleagues at the time, even family members.”
Though Divac had “managed to set things straight with former teammates [such as] Croatians Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja, he was too late to make peace with Drazen.” Said Divac: “Drazen and I were very close teammates in the national team of the former Yugoslavia and we entered the NBA together in 1989. Our lives took different directions when the war started and we never had time to meet and solve our disagreements.”
The official “30 for 30” website has not been updated to reflect the addition of “Once Brothers” to the 32(?)-film lineup and the documentary has not been added to the posted schedule which runs through June, so reckon that we’ll be seeing the release of this film in late 2010 or early 2011.
Basketball-centric films in “30 for 30” include “Without Bias” on the demise of Bill Simmons’ favorite almost-Celtic; the upcoming “Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks,” inexplicably not directed by Spike Lee; “No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson,” a tale of race directed by Steve James of Hoop Dreams fame; and “Jordan Rides the Bus” about You-Know-Who taking a swing (so to speak) at baseball, directed by Ron “White Men Can’t Jump” Shelton.
No confirmation on European showings of these films or when the DVD release date is, but to get on a mailing list to be notified when the DVDs are available, send an email to 30for30Requests@espncustomercare.com.
