HardiHood reveals the emotions of the stars and unknowns who are the sport of professional women's mountain biking. It is the first feature length documentary to explore the world of professional racers AND their lives, fr... more »om race day to day off, to that inevitable day at the hospital.
HardiHood takes a look at a dozen of the world's fastest off-road down-hillers in their natural environment: the dirt. As they live and ride together on a World Cup merry-go-round linking Austria, the United States, and Canada, these hardy women reveal their fresh perspectives on competition, sisterhood, tedium, and terror.
Follow a week in the lives of Missy Giove, Marla Streb, Lisa Sher, and others as they fly down steep, gnarly trails at 50+ mph on tricked out, custom bikes and as they endure the tediousness of travel, training, cooking, hanging out and dating (often each other).
Meanwhile, the sport's earliest champion, veteran Jacquie Phelan, provides an historical background as she teaches frightened novices new tricks, while a wise mechanic advises "it's not about the uphills and downhills, it's all about the transitions"-- a philosophy these athletes apply to racing and life equally.
Filmmaker Jessica Hahn, a lifelong athlete, felt it was time to really explore professional women's sport usually relegated to a short montage of clips in sports broadcasting dominated by male athletes. Unlike the standard sensationalist "in the life" sagas viewers are given during sports events like the Olympics--with stories of family tragedies and life long struggles--Hahn celebrates the idea of women competing and relates it to a larger idea of being a woman.
HardiHood means boldness, audacity, robust physique and constitution, a willingness to involve oneself in danger and risk. Hahn's film shows that the women of this sport, downhill mountain biking, are definitely girls in that hood.« less