The Other Dream Team

Institute History

  • 2012 Sundance Film Festival

Description

In 1992 the United States sent the Dream Team to the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Considered the greatest basketball team ever assembled, these players were expected to dominate and win the gold—and that’s exactly what they did. Meanwhile, on another court, a basketball team from the newly independent nation of Lithuania was chasing a different kind of dream. A tiny country of three million people, Lithuania won the bronze medal, beating Russia, its former oppressor.

Filmmaker Marius Markevicius skillfully crafts an inspirational David-versus-Goliath story, bouncing from the personal struggles of players living behind the iron curtain to their astonishing journey out of the clutches of communism into their unlikely partnership with the Grateful Dead and the glory of the summer Olympics in Barcelona. The Other Dream Team is a triumphant tale of freedom, guts, and pride—a rousing testament to the power of sports as a catalyst for cultural identity.


(Archives note: see also Marius Markevicius' Meet The Artist interview on our YouTube Channel.)

— David Courier

Screening Details

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