Love and Basketball – Criterion Collection – Blu-Ray

Sparks fly both on and off the court in this groundbreaking feature debut by writer-director GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD (The Old Guard), which elevated the coming-of-age romance by giving honest expression to the challenges female athletes face in a world that doesn’t see them as equal. SANAA LATHAN (Alien vs. Predator) and OMAR EPPS (Higher Learning) make for one of the most iconic screen couples of the 2000s as the basketball-obsessed next-door neighbours who find love over flirtatious pickup games, fall apart under the strain of high- pressure college hoops and families, and drift in and out of each other’s lives as they pursue their twin aspirations of playing professionally. Aided by stellar supporting performances and an eclectic R&B soundtrack, Love & Basketball captures the intoxicating passions, heartbreaking setbacks, and sky-high ambitions that mark a young woman’s journey to the top of her game and to lasting love.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Gina Prince- Bythewood, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentary from 2000 featuring PrinceBythewood and actor Sanaa Lathan
• Playing for Your Heart, a new making-of documentary featuring Prince- Bythewood, Lathan, actors Omar Epps and Alfre Woodard, Reggie Rock Bythewood, and basketball adviser Colleen Matsuhara
• Editing “Love & Basketball,” a new program featuring Bythewood and editor Terilyn A. Shropshire
• New conversation on the film’s impact among Prince-Bythewood, founding WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes, and writer-producer-actor Lena Waithe
• Audition tape excerpts and six deleted scenes
• Three short films by Prince-Bythewood: Stitches (1991), Progress (1997),
and Bowl of Pork (1997), with a new introduction by Prince-Bythewood
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author Roxane Gay