Company: Hydro Studios Country: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Section: DOCUMENTARY - TEAM SPORT Discipline: American Football Year: 2017 Director: Rebecca Carpenter Editing: Elisa Bonora, Troy Takaki, Parker Laramie Actors: Rebecca Carpenter Photo: Eric Wycoff Soundtrack: Brian H. Kim Producer: Sara Dee, Hydro Studios CoProducer: Eric Wycoff Time: 90 min
Synopsis
Director Rebecca Carpenter’s father, Lewis Carpenter, was a running back for Vince Lombardi’s NFL Champion Green Bay Packers. When he dies, her family receives a surprise call from Boston University’s brain bank requesting his brain – with shocking results. Lew becomes the 18th NFL player diagnosed postmortem with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative neurocognitive disorder that can cause episodes of rage, social withdrawal, and other unusual behaviors. Carpenter finds herself at ground zero of an unfolding public health controversy and embarks on a three-year odyssey across America to explore the far-reaching implications of this “new” disease in football players. From NFL Hall of Famers like Mike Ditka and James Lofton, to neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee, the director begins to understand the depression, obsessiveness, forgetfulness, and unpredictable temper that often complicated her relationship with her dad are common side effects of repeat blunt force trauma to the brain.