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Oscar® Nominee, Best Documentary (Short Subject), 2004

Hardwood

2004 29 min
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Hardwood is a personal journey by director Hubert Davis, the son of former Harlem Globetrotter Mel Davis, who explores how his father's decisions affected his life and those of his extended family. Elegantly structured into three chapters entitled "love," "recollection" and "redemption," Davis uses personal interviews, archival footage and home movies to delve into his father's past in the hope of finding a new direction for his own. At its core, Hardwood is about the power of redemption and the healing of the bonds between fathers and sons.

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Hardwood

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Hardwood is a personal journey by director Hubert Davis, the son of former Harlem Globetrotter Mel Davis, who explores how his father's decisions affected his life and those of his extended family. Elegantly structured into three chapters entitled "love," "recollection" and "redemption," Davis uses personal interviews, archival footage and home movies to delve into his father's past in the hope of finding a new direction for his own.


At its core, Hardwood is about the power of redemption and the healing of the bonds between fathers and sons.

  • writer
    Hubert Davis
  • director
    Hubert Davis
  • editor
    Hubert Davis
  • producer
    Erin Faith Young
  • co-producer
    Peter Starr
  • commissioning editor
    Rudy Buttignol
  • director of photography
    David Tennant
  • music composer
    Fraser MacDougall
    Dave Palmer
  • researcher
    Megan Carvell Davis
  • sound
    David Hechenberger
    Curt Frisk
  • production coordinator
    Paul Young
    Donna Wilson
  • camera assistant
    Peter Carty
    John Bolger
  • production assistant
    Joey Colista
  • stills photographer
    Nicole Gurney
  • title design
    Stefan Woronko
  • online editor
    Greg Dunlop
  • colorist
    Bill Ferwerda
  • dialogue editor
    Jonas Kunemann
  • sound editor
    Mark Beck
  • re-recording engineer
    John Gare
    Alan De Graaf
  • ADR recordist
    John Dykstra
  • executive producer
    Silva Basmajian
  • accountant
    Dianne Stewart
  • insurance
    Amanda Shyhinskyj
    Hunter, Keilty, Muntz & Beatty
  • legal
    Alana Katz
    Lon Hall & Associates
    Sonya Roberts, Reinberg, Guttenshohn, Ro

Education

Ages 15 to 18
Study Guide
School subjects

Documentary ideal for essays and reflections on family life, ethics and morality. What emotions, values, ethics or morals do you think drove Hubert, Mel and the other people in their decisions? Write a reflection from the perspective of Hubert, and then one from the perspective of his brother, Mawuli. Would you have forgiven their father, Mel, for his double life and his treatment of women if one of them was your own mother? Would you have tried to forge a relationship with your half-brother, and why?

Hardwood
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Home licence (worldwide); Classroom licence (Canada only)

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