POV Community Engagement & Education Discussion GuiDe Racing Dreams A Film by Marshall Curry www.pbs.org/pov PoV LetteR fRom the fiLmmakeR Brooklyn , n ew york , 2011 Before i started making this film, i didn’t really know anything about car racing, and i’m sorry to say, ignorance about racing is pretty typical in new york, where i live. But i knew it wasn‘t typical for the country as a whole. nAscAr is reportedly the second biggest spectator sport in America after football - bigger than baseball or basketball. And i have a lot of family in north carolina, so i knew how much passion for the sport there is down there. i began to wonder how it was possible that in a city like new york, where we’re exposed to such an amazing variety of cul - tures, so many people could know so little about America’s second-favorite pastime. it seemed like something i should learn about if i wanted to understand the red-state/blue-state divide (or, more accurately, the new york/rest-of-the-country di - vide) and so i wrote down “nAscAr” and dropped it into the file i keep of documentary ideas. soon afterward, i read an article about extreme go-kart racing—a nationally competitive sport in which 11 and 12 year olds drive karts that go 70 mph(!). it’s widely considered the little league for nAscAr, and a lot of the top professional drivers started out that way in doing it. i thought that sounded pretty amazing, and one of the things i love about making docu - mentaries is it lets me spend a year or two learning about things i don’t know about. so i went to a few races to scout it out, and it was better than i had imagined. The racing was noisy and dangerous, and the kids were smart, funny and dazzlingly charismatic. i put aside the project i had been working on and dove in. i found two boys and a girl — Josh, Brandon and Annabeth — who were great racers with magnetic personalities. They were at that perfect age where they were old enough to be interesting and insightful, but young enough to be open and unrehearsed. They began to teach me about their passion for racing. To them, racing is just a part of the larger story of growing up. The three-day world karting Association events are where you fall in love for the first time. races are where you test your inner strength and figure out who you are. And races are where you bond with — and declare independence from — your parents. Annabeth told me, “when you are 11 or 12, everyone is always telling you what to do. But when you are racing, you can’t hear anyone else. should i pass this guy? should i wait a lap? it’s all up to you.” we have joked that racing is the McGuffin in our film, and that in some ways, Racing Dreams is actually a coming-of-age story disguised as a racing movie. i think that pre-adolescence is probably the most important, poignant and under-explored stage in our lives. it’s really when we are beginning to figure out who we are, how we relate to our parents, what romance feels like, and what we want to do. i hope that this movie will take people back to that age, and remind us of the dreams we had - to be President, or a baseball player, or wherever our imagination took us. Back before we knew about the importance of money or connections or how hard things were going to be, and we just dreamed. Marshall Curry , Filmmaker, Racing Dreams DISCUSSION GUIDe Racing Dreams |2 PoV tabLe of Contents CReDits 3 Introduction Writer 4 Potential Partners Faith Rogow, PhD 4 Key Issues Insighters Educational Consulting 4 Using This Guide 5 Background Information Guide Producers, PoV 5 Karting eliza Licht 6 Women in Racing Vice President, Community Engagement & Education, POV 8 Selected People Featured Jamie Dobie in Racing Dreams Coordinator, 9 General Discussion Questions Community Engagement & Education, POV 9 Discussion Prompts Design: Rafael Jiménez 11 Taking Action Copy editor: Natalie Danford 12 Resources 14 How to Buy the Film thanks to those who reviewed this guide: Marshall Curry Filmmaker, Racing Dreams intRoDuCtion Fondly described as “ Talladega Nights meets The Catcher in As the tour unfolds, the three young racers step from the the Rye ,” Racing Dreams is a dramatic, funny and sometimes sheltered world of childhood into adolescence — discovering heartbreaking look at the world of nAscAr culture as lived romance for the first time, questioning their relationships with by three young aspirants to race-car glory and their families. their parents and glimpsing the serious obstacles that will The film follows Annabeth Barnes, 11, Josh Hobson, 12, and threaten their ability to achieve their dreams. Racing Dreams Brandon warren, 13, as they compete in the world karting is a story about hopes, values, choices and how opportunities Association’s Pavement series, a yearlong national champi - are created and thwarted, making it an excellent springboard onship of five races around the united states. for conversations in the community. DISCUSSION GUIDe Racing Dreams |3 PoV PotentiaL PaRtneRs key issues Racing Dreams is well suited for use in a variety of set - Racing Dreams is an excellent tool for outreach and will tings and is especially recommended for use with: be of special interest to people looking to explore the following topics: • your local Pbs station • Groups that have discussed previous Pbs and PoV • Car racing films featuring exceptional kids, including The • Competition Hobart Shakespeareans and The Education of • family Shelby Knox , or films about competition, including • feminism Kings of Pastry • Gender • Groups focused on any of the issues listed in the key issues section • Go-kart racing • high school and middle school students • Growing up (coming of age) • faith-based organizations and institutions • motor sports • Cultural, art and historical organizations, • nasCaR institutions and museums • Parenting • Civic, fraternal and community groups • Perseverance/resilience • sports teams and leagues • Professional sport • youth groups and programs (e.g., Girls inc. and • Psychology Girl scouts and boy scouts) • Race car drivers • academic departments and student groups at • Racing culture/industry colleges, universities and high schools • Rural communities • Community organizations with a mission to • sexism promote education and learning, such as local libraries • socioeconomic class • sports • tweens • youth sports usinG this GuiDe This guide is an invitation to dialogue. it is based on a belief in the power of human connection, designed for people who want to use Racing Dreams to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities. in contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversa - tions undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by shar - ing viewpoints and listening actively. The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult. For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit www.pbs.org/pov/outreach DISCUSSION GUIDe Racing Dreams |4 PoV baCkGRounD infoRmation karting (even at the junior level), with companies willing to place bets on future racing stars. The first auto races took place in europe in the late 19th cen - tury (shortly after the automobile was invented), but kart Quick facts: karting racing didn’t begin in the united states as a recreational ac - • karting is a good training ground for car racing, tivity until the 1950s. spaces like shopping center parking because karting is generally less expensive and lots, yards and airfields were used to stage informal races uses less powerful engines. racing karts are also with go-karts that were sometimes made of nothing more built with no suspension (no springs or shocks), which makes karting a great learning tool for future than scrap metal and lawn mower engines. race car drivers, as drivers must adjust and handle while karting is still a hobby for many people today, it has their karts with extreme precision. grown into a multi-billion dollar industry and is viewed as a • The speed of racing karts can vary widely, with steppingstone to the higher ranks of nAscAr and Formula “super karts” reaching speeds of more than 160 one. Professional nAscAr drivers Jeff Gordon, Tony stew - miles per hour. recreational go-karts for the art, Danica Patrick and others started out racing competi - general public (those found at amusement parks, tive go-karts — and Brandon, Annabeth and Josh (the three for example) typically go no faster than 15 miles tweens featured in the film) dream of stepping up to the “big per hour. leagues,” too. • A report from the u.s. consumer Product safety commission documents 155 go-kart-related deaths Racing Dreams follows these three young racers as com - of children under the age of 15 between 1985 and petitors in races organized by the world karting Association 1996. only one of the deaths described in the (wkA) — the largest national sanctioning body for karting in report occurred at a racetrack. The majority of go- north America. The wkA alone boasts 10,000 active mem - kart related injuries and deaths occur while bers (both youth and adult) and counts 120 tracks world - children are riding homemade karts, riding on wide where competitive races are held.