U.S. women’s national soccer team.Photo: Richard Heathcote/GettyThe U.S. women’s national soccer team allowed cameras into their lives while they fought battles on the field — and in courtrooms — and the resulting film gives fans an inside look at the “collective power of female athletes,” the directors say.Oscar winners Sean and Andrea Nix Fine directed new documentaryLFG— an acronym for “Let’s F—ing Go!” — which started streaming onHBO MaxThursday. The film follows the USWNT players as they filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2019.The married couple says they wanted to get on board to highlight the landmark lawsuit immediately and saw it as an opportunity to let “people tell their own stories,” Andrea explains to PEOPLE. She continues, “This was kind of like the perfect message of having what we do best help elevate and share the power of what they achieved together.“The women’s national team athletes filed the lawsuit just three months before theirvictory at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In it, the athletes claimed that they are not paid equally to the men’s national players and alleged that they have experienced “institutionalized gender discrimination,” despite having the same job responsibilities.Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.Filming this journey — especially after a judge ruled against the players' claims of unequal pay in early 2020 — wasn’t always easy.“We know that filming is difficult,” Sean says. “And is so for anybody, but especially if you’re a professional athlete, trying to make a living, trying to be the best at your sport, trying to fight a lawsuit, all of these things. And then you add us filming them at the same time, it’s got to be incredibly stressful for them. So we try to not make it stressful, the filming. And then we try to be there for those moments so that when they are comfortable with it, the camera’s just there.“The pair were successful, as they document the women’s heartbreak and emotions in the moment they learned of the summary judgement not in their favor. Add in the challenge of the players — including Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn — having to self-film their disappointment amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.“That summary judgment moment was actually very meaningful for us because when you’re asking somebody to show up for something like that — it’s one thing when you’re showing up with your cameras and it’s another one, they took it upon themselves to hear what they knew it was probably not going to be the best news from how the call was alerted to them. And they showed us their faces and they showed us their heart,” Andrea says. “And I think that takes a lot. And I’m always grateful to that because I think in that moment, you really feel that you’ve been on that whole journey with them.“She continues, “And probably one of the most emotional parts of the film.“Both Sean and Andrea hope that it’s obvious toLFGviewers that they made an effort to unpack the nitty-gritty details of the legal case and bigger battle for equality in America, all while showcasing the women’s talent on the field.Says Andrea, “At the end of the movie, I want it to be undeniable about what the women are saying, why they deserve this and that you felt like you’ve had the time to hear it from themselves.“RELATED VIDEO: U.S. Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe on Quest for Equal Pay: ‘We’re as Close as We’ve Ever Been’Sean is proud of what resulted: “These are the moments where you just feel so grateful to be a filmmaker because you’re really in their life and you really get to see their lives and they trust you.“LFGis streaming on HBO Max.
U.S. women’s national soccer team.Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty
The U.S. women’s national soccer team allowed cameras into their lives while they fought battles on the field — and in courtrooms — and the resulting film gives fans an inside look at the “collective power of female athletes,” the directors say.Oscar winners Sean and Andrea Nix Fine directed new documentaryLFG— an acronym for “Let’s F—ing Go!” — which started streaming onHBO MaxThursday. The film follows the USWNT players as they filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2019.The married couple says they wanted to get on board to highlight the landmark lawsuit immediately and saw it as an opportunity to let “people tell their own stories,” Andrea explains to PEOPLE. She continues, “This was kind of like the perfect message of having what we do best help elevate and share the power of what they achieved together.“The women’s national team athletes filed the lawsuit just three months before theirvictory at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In it, the athletes claimed that they are not paid equally to the men’s national players and alleged that they have experienced “institutionalized gender discrimination,” despite having the same job responsibilities.Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.Filming this journey — especially after a judge ruled against the players’ claims of unequal pay in early 2020 — wasn’t always easy.“We know that filming is difficult,” Sean says. “And is so for anybody, but especially if you’re a professional athlete, trying to make a living, trying to be the best at your sport, trying to fight a lawsuit, all of these things. And then you add us filming them at the same time, it’s got to be incredibly stressful for them. So we try to not make it stressful, the filming. And then we try to be there for those moments so that when they are comfortable with it, the camera’s just there.“The pair were successful, as they document the women’s heartbreak and emotions in the moment they learned of the summary judgement not in their favor. Add in the challenge of the players — including Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn — having to self-film their disappointment amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.“That summary judgment moment was actually very meaningful for us because when you’re asking somebody to show up for something like that — it’s one thing when you’re showing up with your cameras and it’s another one, they took it upon themselves to hear what they knew it was probably not going to be the best news from how the call was alerted to them. And they showed us their faces and they showed us their heart,” Andrea says. “And I think that takes a lot. And I’m always grateful to that because I think in that moment, you really feel that you’ve been on that whole journey with them.“She continues, “And probably one of the most emotional parts of the film.“Both Sean and Andrea hope that it’s obvious toLFGviewers that they made an effort to unpack the nitty-gritty details of the legal case and bigger battle for equality in America, all while showcasing the women’s talent on the field.Says Andrea, “At the end of the movie, I want it to be undeniable about what the women are saying, why they deserve this and that you felt like you’ve had the time to hear it from themselves.“RELATED VIDEO: U.S. Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe on Quest for Equal Pay: ‘We’re as Close as We’ve Ever Been’Sean is proud of what resulted: “These are the moments where you just feel so grateful to be a filmmaker because you’re really in their life and you really get to see their lives and they trust you.“LFGis streaming on HBO Max.
The U.S. women’s national soccer team allowed cameras into their lives while they fought battles on the field — and in courtrooms — and the resulting film gives fans an inside look at the “collective power of female athletes,” the directors say.
Oscar winners Sean and Andrea Nix Fine directed new documentaryLFG— an acronym for “Let’s F—ing Go!” — which started streaming onHBO MaxThursday. The film follows the USWNT players as they filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2019.
The married couple says they wanted to get on board to highlight the landmark lawsuit immediately and saw it as an opportunity to let “people tell their own stories,” Andrea explains to PEOPLE. She continues, “This was kind of like the perfect message of having what we do best help elevate and share the power of what they achieved together.”
The women’s national team athletes filed the lawsuit just three months before theirvictory at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In it, the athletes claimed that they are not paid equally to the men’s national players and alleged that they have experienced “institutionalized gender discrimination,” despite having the same job responsibilities.
Want to get the biggest stories fromPEOPLEevery weekday?Subscribe to our new podcast,PEOPLE Every Day,to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.
Filming this journey — especially after a judge ruled against the players’ claims of unequal pay in early 2020 — wasn’t always easy.
“We know that filming is difficult,” Sean says. “And is so for anybody, but especially if you’re a professional athlete, trying to make a living, trying to be the best at your sport, trying to fight a lawsuit, all of these things. And then you add us filming them at the same time, it’s got to be incredibly stressful for them. So we try to not make it stressful, the filming. And then we try to be there for those moments so that when they are comfortable with it, the camera’s just there.”
The pair were successful, as they document the women’s heartbreak and emotions in the moment they learned of the summary judgement not in their favor. Add in the challenge of the players — including Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn — having to self-film their disappointment amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That summary judgment moment was actually very meaningful for us because when you’re asking somebody to show up for something like that — it’s one thing when you’re showing up with your cameras and it’s another one, they took it upon themselves to hear what they knew it was probably not going to be the best news from how the call was alerted to them. And they showed us their faces and they showed us their heart,” Andrea says. “And I think that takes a lot. And I’m always grateful to that because I think in that moment, you really feel that you’ve been on that whole journey with them.”
She continues, “And probably one of the most emotional parts of the film.”
Both Sean and Andrea hope that it’s obvious toLFGviewers that they made an effort to unpack the nitty-gritty details of the legal case and bigger battle for equality in America, all while showcasing the women’s talent on the field.
Says Andrea, “At the end of the movie, I want it to be undeniable about what the women are saying, why they deserve this and that you felt like you’ve had the time to hear it from themselves.”
RELATED VIDEO: U.S. Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe on Quest for Equal Pay: ‘We’re as Close as We’ve Ever Been’
Sean is proud of what resulted: “These are the moments where you just feel so grateful to be a filmmaker because you’re really in their life and you really get to see their lives and they trust you.”
LFGis streaming on HBO Max.
source: people.com
