Rez ball — a.k.a. “reservation ball” — represents more than an organized ecosystem of youth basketball teams. It's a spiritual approach to hooping, distinctly influenced by Native American cultures. It will now be chronicled in Netflix's upcoming movie, Rez Ball, which hits the streaming service on September 27 after its Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) premiere.
“It’s the Native American style of play of basketball,” explained Kauchani Bratt, who portrays hooper Jimmy Holliday in Rez Ball. “It’s our own thing — it’s fast, it’s quick, it's spontaneous — it's about being fearless and following your instincts.”
“It's also about giving people a reason to come together and have hope.”
In the film — directed by Sydney Freeland, produced by LeBron James, and based on Michael Powell's New York Times series and book, ‘Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation' — Bratt's Holliday leads the Chuska Warriors, a New Mexico-based high school squad, through adversity and into the biggest tournament of their lives.
A classic underdog story
“It’s a classic story,” Bratt told ClutchPoints. “Of the underdog and the team overcoming challenges. But I think what's really unique about it is the perspective from which it’s told. There’s never been a story like this, told from a Native perspective. Having it be told from that lens is really gonna open up worlds to people who have never seen themselves on screen before, or seen their culture be represented in an authentic way.”
In true Rez ball fashion, Bratt — a philosophy major from San Francisco with no prior IMDb credits who affiliates, via his parents, with the Quechua and Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation — followed his instincts into the game-changing experience.
“One day I’m on Instagram, [and] I see this open casting call produced by LeBron James. I'm like, ‘It sounds like me!' A couple days before, for the first time in my life, I thought about acting. I'm like, ‘Yo, this gotta be a sign. I gotta just go do it. What do I gotta lose? If not now, when?' This is like a one-in-a-million thing that fell from the sky.”
For his inexperience hitting marks, Bratt was deeply familiar with Holliday's world. Before a varsity career, Rez ball “ignited my love for basketball.”
As a middle schooler, Bratt played for the Red Storm in Sacramento. He competed at reservations across the country, culminating with a silver at the 2019 NABI. (“That was kind of a full circle moment.”)
Sydney Freeland's set environment
As in Rez Ball — a successful movie requires a roster of contributors willing to prioritize connectivity over individual ambition. That mentality fueled the Chuska Warriors — on and off set.
“That’s where I gotta shout out Sydney Freeland,” said Bratt. “She created this environment. You could just feel the love on set. You could feel the significance of what we’re doing. When I read the script, I knew — even if I was just a background character. I knew that I just wanted to be a part of it.
“Even before shooting, we had basketball camp with all the boys … By the time we got on set, we had already become the Chuska Warriors,” Bratt concluded.
Check out the trailer and poster for Rez Ball exclusively released by ClutchPoints, which debuts on Netflix on September 27.
Rez Ball will be released on Netflix on September 27.
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