The Palestra: Cathedral of College Basketball

Producer: Mikaelyn Austin

The Palestra: Cathedral of College Basketbal traces the evolution of college basketball through the rise of the most historic arena in the country, the University of Pennsylvania Palestra. Interviews with basketball's most noted figures such as Chuck Daly, Dr. Jack Ramsay, John Chaney, Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli are paired with never-before-seen historical footage, and the powerful voice-over talents of the late Harry Kalas, to illuminate nearly eight decades of basketball in the City of Brotherly Love and the most hallowed halls in college hoops.

Mikaelyn Austin moved to Philadelphia from San Diego, California in 2000 to attend the University of Pennsylvania and play division one basketball. Over the course of her four years at Penn, she discovered a love for filmmaking and the historic city that lay just east of her campus. Shortly after graduating in 2004, Austin founded Philly Philms began producing a feature-length documentary on her alma mater's storied basketball arena- The Palestra. Pulling together a modest budget from a handful of Penn alumni, she spent the next two years interviewing some of the most revered characters in college hoops and digging up hundreds of hours of archival footage and photos, much of which had never been released to the public. The documentary was completed in February of 2007 and following a successful film festival run, premiered nationally on ESPN and celebrated a widespread retail release. Spearheaded by Austin's passion for her adopted hometown, Philly Philms continues to focus a majority of its professional production efforts on unearthing the diverse culture and rich history of Greater Philadelphia, with the goal of shinning a much-deserved spotlight on the nation's most underappreciated and underrepresented city.