Quidditch Doc Inaugurates Palm Springs 'First Features' Series

The festival odyssey for former UCLA graduate film student Farzad Sangari began this summer in Washington, D.C. With some degree of prestige, as the Saturday June 19th screening debut of Mudbloods was hosted by the AFI Docs festival.

The odyssey continues Monday, September 15th in Palm Springs with a free screening as part of the Palm Springs International Film Society's brand new "First Features" series:

It’s an exciting opportunity to hear from up and coming directors and see their films before anyone else. These filmmakers will be the big names of tomorrow, and you’ll be able to say that you saw them first in Palm Springs.

Sangari's documentary follows the fortunes of UCLA's Harry Potter Quidditch team as it aims in 2011 to make it to the sport's fifth annual World Cup in New York City.

Sangari raised $26,965 on Kickstarter to complete post-production. Back in 2011, he was just looking for a subject to anchor a short film for one of his courses. As he subsequently hinted to campus newspaper The Daily Bruin, the ultimate sign of success for this one has to do with the title:

“We want to change the meaning of the word ‘Mudbloods’ in the Harry Potter world into what it means to play Quidditch,” Sangari said. “It takes such tenacity and passion and creativity to make something that literally should not be real into something that a lot of people do and a lot of people watch.”

For now, most people in the HP-know likely still associate the term "Mudblood" with its original, Hogwarts-derogatory meaning. E.g., "a Muggle-born wizard or witch with no wizarding parents or grandparents."

Sangari's film is scheduled to hit DVD/VOD October 14th. He and several guests will be in the desert Monday for a Q&A.

[Mudbloods]