Directed by Mark Durand
U.S. | 2026 | Documentary | 93 min | English
Sponsored by Rena Koopman
Thursday, October 22 | 2:00 PM | BB
Sunday, October 25 | 2:00 PM | FH
In a world where women’s sports has suddenly become a political football, Mark Durand’s Her Game Is Hardball is a timely exploration of the hidden history and modern struggles of women trying to play hardball—that’s baseball, not softball—at the professional level. We follow a number of trailblazing women who fight for recognition, like Melissa Mayeux, still the only female ever to qualify to be drafted by Major League Baseball, and Ashlynn Jolicoeur, dubbed “the Ohtani of women’s baseball.” For director Durand, who has made many films about the world of sports, Her Game Is Hardball is the culmination of a seven-year quest to, in his words, “help illuminate the obscured—or buried—history of baseball, while shining a light on some younger women trying to just play the game against significant social and cultural headwinds.” ~SM Also screens October 25 plus Q&A with director Mark Durand, as well as composer Johnnie Day Durand, narrator Tess Hadley, editor/co-producer Paul Carruthers, pitcher/participant Elise Berger, and former Major League Pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee.