Accessibility: Subtitled / Captioned Screening
We all love an underdog tale. And we could all use a feel good story too. This film is both.
GRINTA! transports the audience to another place and time with a little-known story about heart and grit set in the beautiful vistas of Provence, France and Veneto, Italy in the mid 1990s.
In GRINTA!, Eros Poli, a towering Italian professional cyclist, travels back to France on the thirtieth anniversary of when he defied all odds to a solo breakaway stage victory in the 1994 Tour de France on legendary Mont Ventoux. People are as likely to cry as they are to cheer as they watch this battle between two giants.
The story is captivating and nostalgic for cyclists and non-cyclists alike, and is as much about family and romance as it is about action and sport.
-We experience a father’s unwavering support of his son
-We see how a chance encounter can turn into a decades-long love story
-And are along for the ride, experiencing the thrill as a larger-than-life man goes all in on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
This charming, funny, heartfelt film inspires us to believe that we all have the capacity to be unlikely heroes in our own stories.
Donna is a storyteller, Creative Director, and former second baseman on a boy’s Little league All Star baseball team.
In 2024, at the end of a dozen years in consulting, and many before with an award-winning career with big brands and startups across retail and tech, she thought about what she would do if she could do Anything. And it was filmmaking.
She’s now following this path in midlife.
Donna first heard Eros’ story on a memorable night in Italy sitting across the table from him with Jay and a glass of wine. She found the tale of his win on Mont Ventoux charming, romantic, and inspiring, and thought a lot of other people would too.
The 30th anniversary of his win became the perfect convergence of where she was in life and timeliness to tell the little known story that became GRINTA! film.
Dean started as a copywriter working for a number of advertising agencies way back when a campaign was more than 280 characters on Twitter.
During that time as a creative director he created a number of campaigns for McDonald’s, KIA, Deloitte, Audi, The North Face, and Oakley to name a few. His work was acknowledged with a number of awards by what is regarded as perhaps the most ego-driven industries: the advertising community.
His film experience comes from a steady stream of TV commercials, longer form branded content, and the occasional documentary.
As it would turn out, directing was a natural next step. Fast forward to today and well over a hundred productions later, he still gets weak-kneed at the sight of a well-stocked craft services table.
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