Concussion

Two-time Oscar nominee Will Smith stars in a true-life sports medical drama. An American immigrant, Dr. Bennett Omalu, made a discovery related to the deaths of football players. A brilliant neurologist found out that athletes suffer from serious head injuries caused by frequent concussions. Omalu is taking his crucial evidence to the National Football League. But no one takes him seriously. Even more - they are trying to convince the doctor that it is necessary to stop his struggle for the truth. Bennett Omalu embarks on the dangerous path of a man who is ready to confront one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Read more In 2005, the scientific article "Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a player of the National Football League" was published in the journal Neurosurgery. It was written by a team of authors, one of whose members was B. Omalu. The film "Defender" itself is based on an article from the well-known magazine "GQ" in 2009. In order to prepare for filming, Will Smith, who played the main role, as well as director Peter Landesman, who also wrote the script of the drama, watched the autopsy. Bennett Omalu was one of those doctors who did it. For Landesman, this project is the second in the director's chair, the first was "Parkland" with Zac Efron and Billy Bob Thornton. He also wrote and produced "Slavery" with Kevin Kline and "Kill the Messenger" with Jeremy Renner. The well-known actor Alec Baldwin, who played the doctor in "Defense", also prepared seriously for filming. He observed several prominent physicians in Pittsburgh. Initially, Ridley Scott was supposed to take on the duties of the director, immediately after his film "Exodus: Gods and Kings" with Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton. And although this did not happen, Scott remained in the project as a producer. Filming of the tape "The Defender" began in October 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.