The basketball documentary “Home Court ” will be screened on Saturday, Aug. 30, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, 1964 W. 162nd St., Gardena.
Directed and produced by Erica Tanamachi, “Home Court” profiles Cambodian American basketball phenom Ashley Chea, whose natural talent and tenacity make coaches and family want to support her even when they don’t always know how. Filmed over three years, the film is a coming-of-age story that follows Chea’s family dynamics, both tender and tragic, as she navigates being one of the top basketball recruits in the country.
Chea is a country music-loving point guard, the youngest player ever recruited to play on Nike Team Taurasi and a Division 1 top pick.
Baov, her father, came to America as a refugee in 1994 when he was 12 years old with his mother, brother, and sister. Lida, her mother, arrived about five years later. Both Baov and Lida’s families were devastatingly impacted during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 when millions of Cambodians were brutally killed.
Jayme Kiyomura Chan, Chea’s high school coach at Flintridge Prep, grew up playing in the Asian American basketball leagues. Her father founded Yonsei Basketball, a Japanese American basketball league that provides a Japanese cultural exchange through basketball for AAPI youth.
A panel featuring CCAA Hall of Fame college basketball coach Dave Yanai and South Bay FOR President Jason Hiroshima and an audience Q&A session will follow the screening.
Presented in partnership with the Nikkei Basket-ball Heritage Association. All ages welcome.
Tickets are $15. For more information, call (310) 324-6611 or visit www.jci-gardena.org. For information about the film, visit www.homecourtfilm.com.