It is executive produced by Robin Roberts, Reni Calister and John R. 'Breakaway' will premiere on July 13 at 9 p.m. 'I hope the film sheds light on how society demonizes both those behind bars and those connected at home and inspires people to find inner strength and fight against a system that does not want us to win.' 'I wanted to make this film not only to honor and celebrate the incredible criminal justice reform advocacy that Maya has been working toward with Jonathan Irons, but also to tell a very human story that is often told inhumanely,' said director Rudy Valdez. Valdez's previous film, 'The Sentence', winner of the US Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, explored similar themes about the criminal justice system. 'Breakaway' chronicles a search for justice, and a relationship that changed the lives of two people forever. In 2019, after four WNBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, a WNBA MVP award, three All-Star MVPs, and a scoring title, Moore decided to take a sabbatical from basketball at the age of 29 to devote herself full-time to working for the release of a man named Jonathan Irons, who was wrongly convicted of burglary and assault and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Directed by Rudy Valdez, the documentary explores the story of Moore, who was one of the best basketball players in the world when she stepped away from the sport for a remarkable reason: to fight for a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned. To resume, it is a great story (the only reason why I did not give it a 6-star rank) which is, however, not presented in the best way in the documentary as it deserved.ESPN Films Latest 30 for 30 'Breakaway' on Maya Moore and Her Fight For Justice to Premiere July 13 on ESPNĭirected by Rudy Valdez, the documentary explores the story of Moore, who was one of the best basketball players in the world when she stepped away from the sport for a remarkable reason: to fight for a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned.įilm is Directed by Rudy Valdez and Executive Produced by Robin Roberts, in partnership with Rock'n Robin ProductionsĮSPN will debut the next installment in the Peabody and Emmy award-winning 30 for 30 series, 'Breakaway,' about WNBA superstar and activist Maya Moore, on July 13. However, the film alternates its focus, in a not very integrated way between both stories, and the outcome is that it is not well explored enough to make a very good movie. Differently from Jonathan, who has a quite moving life story and captivates the spectator. Anyway, the documentary has ups and downs, without a good script, and I cannot help but say that Maya is an awsome basketball player and good-hearted person, but not really an interesting character (she is shy and her interviews do not work). The police's racism is addressed once more when it comes to Black Lives Matter movement, when Maya Moore is already a star (and many impressive stats and plays are shown in the film). Then we have a documentary on bad racist police, on hard life in poor neighborhood where crime is always a strong possibility to make a living, on unfair Justice that aims to put black people in jail instead of following the laws. Fortunately, there is a good twist when Jonathan Irons (much more charismatic than hers) gives his testimony. Except for a little footage of child player Maya Moore, the first 8 minutes is uninteresting and boring to death.

30 for 30 breakaway