During the Great Depression, a Texas high football team made up of orphans surprised and inspired the nation by making it to their state championship. Their story is chronicled in 12 Mighty Orphans, a sports drama opening in New York and the Lone Star State theaters this weekend, starring a stellar cast that features Martin Sheen, Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw, Wayne Knight and Robert Duvall.
The featured is directed by Ty Roberts, a filmmaker with ties with Latin America.
In the late 1930s, Rusty Russell (Wilson) gives up a privileged position to coach football at Fort Worth orphanage. He whips his young players into shape and helps them aspire to big dreams that capture a nation in need of inspiration as well as the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Few people knew a personal secret the coach carried since childhood: he, too, had been an orphan. Recognizing that his scrawny players couldn’t beat the other teams with brawn, Rusty developed innovative strategies that would come to define modern football.
Sheen plays Doc Hall, an assistant coach that helps Rusty put together the high school football team and get players into shape.
The film is adapted from Jim Dent’s bestselling book Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football, with a screenplay by Roberts, Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer. Other cast members include Jake Austin Walker, Treat Williams, Ron White and Scott Haze.
Director Robert is an Austin-based award-winning filmmaker who has also worked in Latin American for many years.
After graduating from the University of Texas, Roberts studied under Werner Herzog at the inaugural Rogue Film School in 2011 and also earned a film certificate from New York University.
His short film These Wild Plains played at international festivals including the Cannes Short Film Corner, Guadalajara Film Festival, Lucerne Film Festival and Cartagena Film Festival.
For nearly a decade, Roberts resided in Argentina working as a freelance producer Walt Disney developing the documentary Magical Patagonia for DisneyNature and as a location scout for Narnia films. He also produced the documentary The Path of the Condor, narrated by Viggo Mortensen, that aired on the Discovery Channel.
The filmmaker also lived in Mexico, where he directed the short film Luz del Mundo, starring Austin Nichols about the death of Beat Generation legendary author Neal Cassady which premiered at Guanajuato Film Festival. Cassady died in Mexico.
Ty’s drama 2018 The Iron Orchard, about a young man thrust into the vibrant and brutal West Texas oil fields in 1939 who ultimately becomes a formidable wildcatter, won awards at various competitions such as the Austin Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival and Lone Star Film Festival.
The movie will open nationwide June 18.
Featured Photo: ’12 Mighty Orphans’ (Credit: Sony Classic Pictures)