Muni

Films

39MIN

Trailer

Availability ended 11/11/2021 EDT

A love letter to the game of golf as told by the Black caddies-turned-players who built a rich and vibrant golf culture on a municipal cours

A love letter to the game of golf as told by the Black caddies-turned-players who built a rich and vibrant golf culture on a municipal course in an eclectic southern town. The common perception of golf is of a game played by the white upper class, but golf’s historic roots and for much of its history has been a game played by a wide variety of classes and people. Narrated by Darius Rucker, Muni is a documentary film of intimate and interwoven stories told by a collection of people, most of whom have played Asheville, North Carolina's municipal golf course for decades against a backdrop of the racial turmoil and change of the 50’s and 60’s. For them, golf has been and will continue to be an essential part of their lives until they die. Designed by the famous architect Donald Ross and built in 1920’s Asheville’s Muni has always been a public course. But here, African American’s were prohibited from playing openly until the 1950’s. Then the caddies became the players, and a rich and vibrant integrated golf culture grew at Muni, highlighted by the notable Skyview Golf Tournament. Began in 1960, it hosted the most prominent black golfers of the day and continues today with a diverse and talented field.

Director Biography - Paul Bonesteel

Paul Bonesteel is a documentary filmmaker from Asheville, North Carolina. His passion for the outdoors and a love for history, music and storytelling led him to a diverse career of documentary filmmaking and commercial media production. Celebrated works include "The Mystery of George Masa" (2003), a historical biography about a mysterious Japanese photographer who immortalized the Appalachian Mountains. "The Great American Quilt Revival" (2005) a story of the resurgence of quilting as craft and art. In 2012, after eight years of research and production "The Day Carl Sandburg Died" aired on PBS’ American Masters while also winning ‘Best Educational Film’ at the International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal, Canada. In 2016 he wrote and directed "America’s First Forest: Carl Schenck and the Asheville Experiment" telling the story of how George Vanderbilt and others brought scientific forestry to American, helping to establish and influence the conservation movement globally.

In his latest film "Muni" (2020) he creates a love letter to the game of golf as told by the African-American caddies-turned-players who built a rich and vibrant golf culture on a municipal course in an eclectic southern town.

Director Statement

At the core of the stories I tell are ones that I feel simply have to be made. It is a passion and a need to share ideas and stories between people. For me, it's both the interaction between subject and filmmaker and the film and the audience that is a sacred relationship. This is what fires my filmmaking.