Filmmaker from Halifax receives second Oscar nomination

A filmmaker from Halifax received his second Oscar nomination on Tuesday.

Ben Proudfoot’s newest film, “The Queen of Basketball,” has been nominated in the Documentary Short Subject category.

The film, which he produced and directed, shares the life story of 1970s basketball superstar Lucy Harris.

"(She) was born to sharecroppers, 1955 Mississippi Delta, and grew to be the best basketball player in the world," said Proudfoot.

Harris was the first woman to score a basket in the Olympics, the first and only woman drafted by the NBA, and the first woman of colour to be inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame.

"Just a pre-eminent person in every way. Just dominant. Just totally dominant," said Proudfoot. "And, as you see in the film, an incredibly humble, kind and self-effacing person. And she tells her own story in this film."

After learning about Harris' life from a friend, Proudfoot knew he had to tell her story.

"I just called the number.I looked her up on white pages and I just called her and she picked up," Proudfoot explained. "The interview was long - 11 hours over a couple different days – and her memory was perfect... And then, the real breakthrough that matched with this incredible recollection that she had was, we found a trove of archived footage and photographs at her local university that has never been digitized."

Also on-hand to help with the film was fellow basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal, who was the documentary’s executive producer.

"The man himself, he watched the film and just loved it and just reached out and said, ‘This is such an important story. How can I help bring this story to the world,'" said Proudfoot.

Proudfoot says the entire process has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Sadly, Harris passed away just three weeks ago.

"I just got back 36 hours ago from Mississippi from her memorial service," said Proudfoot. "So, for her family, laying her to rest on a Saturday and her story getting nominated for an Oscar on a Tuesday is kind of crazy. They're (the family) on a ride of a lifetime this past week."

Proudfoot said he would have loved for Harris to see the exciting news Tuesday morning, but adds that the world must have had other plans.

"This morning I was talking with her kids and they said she would have said, 'That's pretty neat,' about the Oscar nom. She would have said, 'That's so neat.' She was understated. She was soft spoken," he said. 

Although the nomination is great, Proudfoot says he is more excited about Harris getting the recognition she so well deserves.

"Today I might be the nominee on the screen... but it’s Lucy that people are responding to. It's her story, so I think it's just another accomplishment... on her long litany of accomplishments," he said.

"Not only was she one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but she had a great story."