Iconic Mavericks power forward, Dirk Nowitski, is no longer just a star of the basketball court. Now, he's a star of the big screen as well. The documentary, Nowitski. The Perfect Shot, already premiered to both critical and financial success in Germany last year. At this year's Dallas International Film Festival, the film will make its official US debut.
According to the producer, Leopold Hoesch, Nowitski.The Perfect Shot is not only about Nowitski's rise to fame in American basketball, but about how he was engineered to be a legend from a young age as well.
"The film covers this story and the fascinating relationship between Dirk Nowitzki and his shooting coach and mentor Holger Geschwindner," Hoesch says. "The German basketball legend and scientist recognized Nowitzki's talent early on, and with a mix of ambitious daring and scientific approach to invent a perfect jump shot; he led him all the way to the top of US sports: German engineering meets NBA basketball."
Aside from Nowitski, Hoesch also managed to get the likes of Mark Cuban, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, and Kobe Bryant on board with filming. Hoesch credits the support of the Mavericks and their "fantastic staff" for helping him complete the project.
After finding success in another sports related documentary, Klitschko, a film about Ukrainian heavy weight boxers, Hoesch decided to spearhead Nowitski.The Perfect Shot. This wasn't an easy task for Hoesch as he had to raise $2 million, convince Cuban and the other players to be on board, and win over the NBA. However, his hardest task was to sell Nowitski on the idea.
"Dirk could not imagine that he deserves a film," Hoesch says. "It was hard work to convince him in the first place. He is a very modest person."
Modest or not, Nowitski is one of the most important players in the game today. He is currently ranked the seventh top scorer of all time and he was the first European player to be named MVP. His accomplishments already made him interesting to Hoesch, but his region of birth really made him a slam dunk choice for the producer.
"13 times All-Star, League MVP, Finals MVP, NBA-Superstar -- there is only a handful of guys in the entire NBA history like Dirk Nowitzki" Hoesch says "He belongs to the greatest and most famous athletes of all times and he is from Germany. That's what drew me into making this film."
Nowtiski. The Perfect Shot debuts at DIFF for American audiences at 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. Hoesch is even confident that the German giant will make an appearance.
"Well. his sister came all the way from Germany," Hoesch jokes. "I guess he will be there."
