The new documentary "A Most Beautiful Thing" is a tale that is very prescient in our current world. Director Mary Mazzio and subject Arshay Cooper took some time to sit down with the Network's Jeremy Goeckner to talk about making the film and the various messages it deals with.
The film chronicles the first African American high school rowing team in the nation (made up of young men from the West Side of Chicago, many of whom were from rival gangs, all coming together to row in the same boat.) Based on Arshay Cooper’s self-published memoir.
The film takes a deep dive into the backstories of these young men, examining the issues of intergenerational trauma and violence. As the team’s captain, Arshay Cooper, reflected, “When we were on the water, we were in a place where we couldn’t hear the sound of sirens or bullets, and that allowed us to shape a different vision for ourselves, of who and what we could become. And that was a beautiful thing.”
