Slamming into theaters in July, Murderball (winner of the Documentary Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival) is a film about tough, highly competitive rugby players. Quadriplegic rugby players.

Whether by car wreck, fist fight, gun shot, or rogue bacteria, these men have been forced to live life sitting down. In their own version of the full-contact sport, they battle each other in custom-made gladiator-like wheelchairs, pursuing gold medals and proving to themselves and to anyone who sees them in action that there is life after disability.

From the gyms of middle America to the Olympic arena in Athens, Greece, Murderball tells the story of a group of world-class athletes who will smash every stereotype you ever had about what it means to have a disability.

Murderball addresses the common misconceptions many people have about quadriplegics. As the film shows, quads can lead independent lives - they drive, cook, have sex, and as the opening scene of the film illustrates, put on their pants one leg at a time, just like everyone else. But the quads who had previously been athletes, adventurers, or risk-takers - or those who dreamed of this kind of life - despaired that they would never experience extreme physical activity and the rush that accompanies it, until they learned about Quad rugby. Hearing about Quad rugby gave these young men hope; actually playing the game gave them a renewed sense of purpose in their lives.

It's not uncommon for individuals with disabilities to be treated in a delicate or even condescending manner. This approach, however, ignores the incredible adaptability that humans have displayed in the face of life-altering situations. While these gestures are often made with the best of intentions, they often only succeed in making the recipient feel like their abilities are completely ignored. One of the simplest themes of Murderball is that it's what's inside -- not the limitations imposed from the outside -- that makes a person who he or she is.

Get Into The Game
Smash stereotypes about the disabled by hosting a screening of Murderball and help raise funds to provide sports wheelchairs to athletes in need. Find out more.