The Brittney Griner Story

United States2025105 minEnglish

Explores the circumstances that led to Brittney Griner playing basketball outside the U.S. despite being one of the best players in the sport, including her harrowing detainment, unwavering determination to secure her freedom, and her advocacy for the release of other wrongful detainees.

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The media frenzy surrounding the detainment and eventual release of Brittney Griner was highly politicized, fueled by speculation and attempts to leverage her narrative to advance political agendas. Now, director Alexandria Stapleton gives the floor to Griner to tell her story, alongside her wife, Cherelle, and an inner circle of friends and family.

This intimate access grounds the film in Griner’s humanity, reminding us she is a wife, parent, daughter, sister, and friend — far more than just an athlete-turned-political pawn. Griner opens up about her childhood, the disappointment and fear surrounding her detainment, her harrowing experience in a Russian penal colony, and the complicated negotiations to get her home. It’s a riveting story of resilience, anchored by a family who never stopped pushing for her release and that of others. — SO

Available in person only.

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Credits

Director(s)
Alexandria Stapleton
Producers
Alexandria Stapleton
Stacy Scripter
Funmi Akinyode
Megan Goedewaagen
Carolyn Hepburn
Executive Producer
Lindsay Kagawa Colas
Jon Liebman
Cherelle Griner
Brian Lockhart
Burke Magnus
Marsha Cooke
Heather Anderson
Editors
Rosella Tursi
Benjamin Kast
Director of Photography
Eve Cohen
Subject
Brittney Griner
Cherelle Griner

Company
ESPN
Contact
Maria Delgado
maria.delgado@espn.com
6464686103

Meet the Artist

Alexandria Stapleton

Alexandria Stapleton is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and the founder of House of NonFiction. She directed The Brittney Griner Story for ESPN and Sean Combs: The Reckoning for Netflix, as well as films for Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and HBO. She is currently working on a feature doc about NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens.

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