Michael Tolajian
2021Once Brothers
Michael Tolajian
Vlade Divac, Dražen Petrović
Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball. Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to USA where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to face each other on the basketball courts of the NBA, no words passed between the two. Then, on the fateful night of June 7, 1993, Drazen Petrovic was killed in an auto accident. This film will tell the gripping tale of these men, how circumstances beyond their control tore them apart, and whether Divac has ever come to terms with the death of a friend before they had a chance to reconcile.
Once Brothers
Q Ball
Michael Tolajian, Michael Tolajian
Across the Bay from the NBA champion Golden State Warriors is another Warriors team, one that plays only home games. Felony convictions derailed the lives of the San Quentin Prison squad, some of them promising players. The rocky road to rehabilitation is the point of the game in this eye-opening, inspirational documentary. Q Ball‘s focus is on determined men grappling indelibly with the gravity of their crimes and reaching for redemption. The film zeroes in on about-to-be-paroled star player Harry “ATL” Smith, who has not surrendered his NBA dreams; Anthony “Ant” Ammons, a lifer who has become a mentor to younger inmates; and head coach Rafael Cuevas, a convicted murderer who understands his role in preparing his players for life on the outside. For all three men, the team is not just a means of recreation, but a form of family.
Q Ball
