THE FILM
GO FIGURE: THE RANDY GARDNER STORY
A behind the Scenes Documentary about World Champion and Two-Time Olympian Randy Gardner: His on-ice life with his pairs skating partner, World Champion and Two Time Olympian Tai Babilonia, meshed with his very private and very personal off-ice pursuit of his true identity.
THE STORY
Randy, is the Randy Gardner of the World Champion pairs figure skating team of Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner. Their heartbreak at having to withdraw form the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics due to injury (Randy's) as they were about to take the ice, was devastating not only to them, but to the entire USA that was counting on "America's Sweethearts" to win the Gold over the long dominant Soviets. It was the ultimate Cold War battle played out on a sheet of ice. What wasn't known and has now been put on film along with Tai and Randy's incredible skating partnership, is Randy's private story. A story that is filled with family secrets, closeted homosexuality and the price paid. Using footage from Randy's one man show, of the same title, skating practice and competitions, scrapbook clippings and home movies, along with new film sequences and interviews, Sharidan has woven together the pieces of Randy's life into a poignant and compassionate film that is at once uplifting and inspiring.
THE MISSION
Memoir is a powerful tool to unlocking our true story without artifice. Film is a perfect tool to making sure that our true stories are passed from one generation to the next.
The exploration of one's roots is a universal pursuit. It is a brave undertaking for anyone to perform thier life's essence in front of an audience. Cracking the veneer of a public life open as a solo pursuit is especially complex for an Olympic icon who has been intrinsically linked with another soul for all of his athletic and artistic life.
This documentary is not just another sparkly figure skating movie. It is a work of art that preserves an enchanted time in US Figure Skating history while digging below the frozen surface of the ice to reveal the humanity behind the icon.