Art as Rebellion
REQUIEM FOR A RUNNING BACK
2017 Feature Length Documentary
01:29:00 | Executive Producer & Director
REQUIEM FOR A RUNNING BACK opened at the Siskel Theater in November 2017 and was widely regarded as the “must see” documentary about CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Recognized for its intelligent and poignant exploration of Carpenter’s own father’s CTE diagnosis, the Hollywood Reporter describes it as “deeply moving”; and Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times, “brilliant and brave and beautifully honest.”
“Little more needs to be said about the terrible, crippling toll of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”
- Rick Telander, Chicago Sun Times
“Requiem for a Running Back intelligently and empathetically examines the paradox of American football for families, spectators and athletes alike. Rebecca’s insider status as child of Lew Carpenter, a former football athlete and coach diagnosed with CTE, made her interviews with her film subjects intimate, honest, and appropriately complex.”
- David Maraniss, "Collision Sport on Trial", The New York Review of Books
“Sensational... Poignant, informative, beautiful-looking. Sweet and (appropriately) brutal.”
- John Wertheim, Executive Editor, Sports Illustrated
“Riveting!”
- Jeanna-Marie Laskas, Author of New York Times Best-Seller Concussion