In one sense, soccer star Megan Rapinoe “came here to play.” She’s an Olympic champion and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner as a leading member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. In another way, though, she didn’t come here to play – meaning, when it comes to standing up for equal pay for women, LGBTQIA+ rights and other vital social issues, she doesn’t back down.
Rapinoe is the star of Rapinoe, the documentary directed by Rebecca Huntt that just held its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Shortly before the premiere, both director and protagonist stopped by the Deadline Studio in Toronto at Bisha Hotel.
“No hesitation about allowing the cameras in,” Rapinoe said of agreeing to participate in the documentary. “My only hesitation was about the kind of film that we were going to make. That was even before Rebecca and I linked up. I didn’t want to just kind of make a standard athlete doc. So, once I linked up with Rebecca and we sort of shared the vision about what we wanted to do, I was like, ‘Okay, it’s yours. Go for it.’”
Huntt addressed how she made Rapinoe different from typical sports documentaries.
“I feel like a lot of [those] docs, no shade, but they become a kind of long-form content,” Huntt observed. “It’s just sort of a specialty edited way of what we’ve already seen through Instagram, YouTube and all of these channels that we have with social media. And I really wanted this to feel personal and intimate. I wanted for us to be able to understand the sort of inner moment that Megan was in while we were shooting the film. It was important for the fans and just for the archive.”
Megan Rapinoe
Courtesy of TIFF
The documentary explores how “dissociation” helped Rapinoe maintain focus on the field at moments of greatest tension, with victory on the line. And it delves into the coming out process for Rapinoe, who grew up in the conservative town of Redding, California, in a religious family. Embracing her identity helped her become a complete person and better athlete, she says.
“I feel like the whole world sort of went from a little bit out of focus and not quite making sense to just like, ‘Oh, that’s who I am,’” Rapinoe said. “And I think from then I just really could settle into myself and understand myself a lot better. And also, being gay is amazing.”
In the Deadline interview, Rapinoe speaks to the intense backlash she faced after supporting the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Watch the full video above.
The Deadline Studio at TIFF is hosted at Bisha Hotel and presented by Volvo, Columbia, Patrón and Schwarzkopf.
Panelists: Megan Rapinoe (protagonist); Rebecca Huntt (director)
First Screening: Friday, Sept. 11 at Scotiabank Theatre
Sales agent: UTA Independent Film Group