Filmmaker Q&A With Racing Dreams Marshall Curry

Casting in fiction filmmaking is often said to make or break a film.  But this is even more the case in documentary, where casting often involves making a bet that the subjects' lives will make for an entertaining story.

Director Marshall Curry certainly bet well when casting three tween race kart drivers for his latest doc, Racing Dreams, which picked up the award for Best Documentary at Tribeca and screened this past week at Silverdocs.   Annabeth (11), Josh (12) and Brandon (13) “popped out” in screen testing, said Curry, who sensitively documented  their earnest, sometimes sad, and often humorous childhood travails all the while competing in the year-long World Karting Association Championship.

Curry last swept the festival circuit with his first documentary, Street Fight, which picked up an Oscar nomination in 2005.  His latest features sharper production values but no less compassion.

I was able to meet up with Curry after his screening at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring on Saturday. Here's what he had to say:

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