Trailer for ‘Sweetwater’ – About the First African American NBA Player
by Alex Billington
February 19, 2023
Source: YouTube
“Change is happening – but I don’t know if my city can take it.” Briarcliff Ent. has revealed a trailer for a sports movie called Sweetwater, telling the true story of an iconic basketball player. This opens in theaters in April, right after the NCAA finals, and hasn’t played at any festivals. In the fall of 1950, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton forever changed the game of basketball when he became the very first African American contracted to play in the NBA. “The game of basketball would never be played the same.” This is “inspired” by the true story of Hall of Famer Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton – he played his first game for the New York Knicks four days after the debut of Washington Capitols player Earl Lloyd, the first black player to appear in an NBA game. Everett Osborne stars as Nat, with a cast including Jeremy Piven, Cary Elwes, Richard Dreyfuss, Eric Roberts, Kevin Pollak, Jim Caviezel, Mike Starr, and Gary Clark Jr. This seems a bit generic but looks like a good story to tell anyway about an important person who is not that well known nowadays.
Here’s the first official trailer for Martin Guigui’s Sweetwater, direct from Briarcliff’s YouTube:
Newcomer Everett Osborne stars in the film, portraying Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, a future hall-of-famer who became one of the first Black basketball players to play in the NBA. At age 27, Sweetwater signed with the New York Knicks and played his first game on November 4th, 1950. He was already an all-star athlete who, at the time, played for an all-Black professional basketball team and during the off-season, also played first baseman in the Negro league baseball. Sweetwater is written and directed by Argentinian musician / filmmaker Martin Guigui, director of many films including Changing Hearts, Swing, Cattle Call, Beneath the Darkness, The Bronx Bull, Drama Drama, The Unhealer, Paradise Cove, & The Hit Man previously, plus shorts and music videos. Produced by Josi W. Konski, Tim Moore, Darren Moorman, and Dahlia Waingort. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals or elsewhere, as far as we know. Briarcliff will debut Sweetwater in select US theaters starting on April 14th, 2023 this spring. Who’s interested in watching?
