On Monday night at Park City High School’s Eccles Center, Billie Jean King’s “Give Me the Ball!” documentary premiered. King retells the story of her life on and off the court from childhood through present day — touching upon being told to play a more “ladylike” sport by her own m other, sacrificing wins and prize money for the greater good of women’s tennis and sport to going back to Cal State LA, where she’s slated to receive her undergraduate degree in history this spring.  Directorial team Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff let King tell her story, focusing their camera lens on her for large portions of the film in candid interviews. They also lauded their archival footage team, who scrapped up never-before-seen footage of King’s takedown of Bobby Riggs in the 1973 Battle of the Sexes match and King mentoring a soon-to-be great of the women’s game post-retirement.  Both King and the rest of the film’s crew believe their film is coming out at the perfect time. King, in attendance at the Eccles on Monday night — speaking on the post-premiere panel and sending signed balls all over the crowd before walking off stage, reiterated the importance of knowing your history because she believes every generation will unfortunately face many of the same battles, such as the struggle for women’s equality.  “I wanted to do this for the future generations,” King said. “Not for my generation so much.” King said she believes its her and her generation’s responsibility to inspire those to come to be whoever they want and to be happy doing it. Her dad was instrumental in her becoming a 39 time Grand Slam champion, putting her on equal footing growing up with her brother Randy Moffitt, who played in the MLB for 12 seasons, when she said she wanted to become the top women’s tennis player in the world. King, reflecting on her personal struggles with her sexuality and an eating disorder, wonders if her tennis career took place above her own happiness.  “The more you know about history, the more you know about yourself,” King adds. “If I just ignite one person, young or old, then it’s an accomplishment.” King said some of her favorite things to see in women’s tennis today are players cashing massive checks for their efforts and people using their platforms to give back around the world as she spent her career doing — she tabbed Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina as someone whose foundation does great work promoting the sport in her country.  “In the life of Billie Jean King, what you see is the life of an American hero,” Garbus said. “Somebody who put others before self. In America today, that is a sorely needed kind of hero.” From left, director Liz Garbus, ESPN’S Executive Producer of ESPN Films Marsha Cooke and director Elizabeth Wolff attend the premiere of “Give Me the Ball!” on Monday night. Credit: Jack Casebolt/Park Record Garbus described the archived footage as pure sports fun — it sent the premiere crowd into roars as if they were taking in the back-and-forth points live. She believes Billie Jean King showed new, more-veneurable parts of herself than she ever had. Garbus and King joked on the panel that King went so in-depth about her experiences that she got tired of answering further questions on set.  “Billy’s story has been told many times,” Garbus added. “There were a lot of questions I don’t think she was quite ready to answer, and I think in this film you’re gonna see some of them.” “Give Me the Ball!” is the eighth film Garbus has been involved with at Sundance thus far. She said thinking about the festival leaving Park City nearly brings tears to her eyes.  “I’ve been coming to Sundance for almost three decades,” Garbus said. “My career started here, and I’ve been back with eight films. So, it means everything to me. … It is the heart of the American independent film industry, and we love Park City.” King, Garbus and ESPN’s “Give Me the Ball!” has five more showings this week in Park City and Salt Lake City. As of writing, the Friday night showing at the Rose Wagner Center in Salt Lake City and the Sunday morning screening at The Ray in Park City have tickets still available. For a complete listing of the screenings, see below.  ESPN also helped make “The Brittney Griner Story,” premiering on Tuesday afternoon at The Ray. ESPN Executive Producer of ESPN Films Marsha Cooke believes it’s increasingly important to tell stories about personal freedoms in today’s age.  “In this time that we’re living in, so many things are being taken away,” Cooke said. “So, people need to understand all of the work that she’s (King) done on behalf of that generation, this generation and the future.” ‘Give Me the Ball!’ in-person screenings: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 27, Megaplex Redstone 1:50 p.m., Jan. 29, Megaplex Redstone 6 p.m., Jan. 30, Rose Wagner Center Noon, Jan. 31, The Yarrow Theatre 8:30 a.m., Feb. 1, The Ray Theatre The full “Give Me the Ball!” crew. Credit: Jack Casebolt/Park Record The post Billie Jean King’s ‘Give Me the Ball!’ premieres at Sundance on Monday night appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less