About the Project.
Exploring Brian Lara’s remarkable ascent in 1994, the film celebrates his development in Trinidad and features interviews with iconic names from the world of cricket. Lara himself features in the film through extensive archival interviews. In May 2019 during the latter stages of production Lara kindly granted the director very special access to film at his 50th birthday celebrations and in his own private museum at his residence in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Featuring never-before-seen archive footage and stills plus a 90’s ‘Britpop’, Calypso and reggae-inspired soundtrack, the film also examines the wider impact of Lara’s arrival and success at Warwickshire, coming so soon after his test world record innings of 375. “501 Not Out” brings an amazing story to life on the big screen for the very first time. UK cinema audiences have compared the film to the Academy award-winning ‘Senna’ (Universal) while other similar recent titles in the sports documentary genre include ‘Shane’ (Dogwoof), ‘Rocky & Wrighty: From Brockley To The Big Time’ (BT Sport Films) and ‘The Last Dance’ (Netflix).
‘It happened 28 years ago but it’s a personal memory that stays freshly implanted in my mind. Those 474 minutes weren’t just time spent in the middle. Every moment I batted at Edgbaston for those two days in 1994 coalesced into a life-changing experience, one that kept spurring me on to become the player I eventually became.
Thank you Iconic Productions and the entire team for coming up with this thoughtful, detailed chronicle of those 501 special runs.’ 6th June 2022
Sam, the Director, fondly remember queuing at the boundary’s edge for Brian Lara’s autograph during the summer of ‘95. Lara was my childhood hero and I was in awe of him having seen him tear up the record books the previous summer. Fast forward to now and as an independent filmmaker, I wanted to take audiences back to ‘94 and specifically to that halcyon day of June 6th when Lara set a new first class world record. In addition to a trip of a lifetime to Trinidad to meet Lara’s coaches and close friends to see where the story started, I wanted to track down fans who made the pilgrimage to Edgbaston that day – the ‘I was there’ stories that can sometimes go untold in sports documentaries. Alongside my love of cricket, I have a passion for archive and I am incredibly proud of the variety and depth of both the photographic and moving image archive that features heavily in ‘501 Not Out’. In simply making the film I have fulfilled a long-held dream & now many people will be able to enjoy watching it and celebrate the genius of Brian Charles Lara.
501 Not Out’ is the first ever theatrically screened documentary made about Brian Lara. It sold out independent cinema screenings in the UK and opened the prestigious Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2020. In 2023 it had its London premiere at the Windrush Caribbean Film Festival. Brian Lara attended the screening and took part in the Q & A panel with the director and England legend Gladstone Small.
