McFarland

[projekktor id=’17672′]

McFarland is a sports drama inspired by the life and career of high-school coach Jim White, directed by Niki Caro (North Country). Kevin Costner stars as Jim White alongside Maria Bello and Morgan Saylor.

Based on the 1987 true story, Disney’s “McFarland” follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school.

In Niki Caro’s Whale Rider, she embedded herself in Maori culture to ensure the film was authentic. She used the same approach for McFarland, living in the community and shooting parts of the movie in the town itself. “I am really comfortable making movies in real communities and I really value the collaboration between me as a filmmaker and the people that the film is essentially about,” she says. “I never want to impose my will on a community because even though I am the director of the movie, I can’t direct them to be any more like themselves than they are. So it’s very advantageous to me because I can see the truth of their lives and their world right in front of me.”

McFarland is rated G.