Nasty: More Than Just Tennis

Thursday, December 4 at 6:30: The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with sports journalist Steve Flink

Celebrated with a Special Screening at Cannes 2024, this adrenaline-charged portrait of legendary tennis player Ilie Nastase is as entertaining as a match with its protagonist. Using rare archive footage, the film pivots around his explosive 1972 season—Wimbledon runner-up, US Open champion, and a third Davis Cup final—a watershed moment that catapulted the Romanian from behind the Iron Curtain into the global spotlight. Simultaneously affable and generous, he could switch to haughty and obscene—a contradictory nature that earned him the infamous "Nasty" nickname. A stellar cast—including luminaries like Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Rafael Nadal, and Jimmy Connors—all acknowledge his defiant edge and controversial behavior, yet consistently vouch for his fundamental talent and kindness. This is a definitive smash into the essence of the sport’s initial rebellious idol, who shattered its staid gentility with brazen theatricality.

Screening as part of Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema 2025