Citizen Ashe
A film by Rex Miller and Sam Pollard
CITIZEN ASHE is Dogwoof production in partnership with CNN Films and HBO Max. It tells the story of a champion athlete and the defining moments that led to his activism and his pursuit of social justice for all.
CITIZEN ASHE is the story of sports legend and social activist Arthur Ashe. Known to most by his stellar sports career - Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open winner and the first black player to be selected for the US Davis Cup Team - this film uncovers Ashe’s personal evolution; how his activism grew and embraced not only the Civil Right movement and African-Americans but all oppressed peoples throughout the world. Ashe died of AIDS-related complications in 1993 and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom the same year.
Rex Miller’s work has been featured in New York Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Time. For the last 15 years, he has been directing, producing and shooting for HBO and with Nanfu Wang, Heidi Ewing/ Rachel Grady, Sam Pollard, and Steven Cantor. Recent projects as Director include the documentaries, ALTHEA (2015, PBS), SOMAY KU: A Uganda Tennis Story and Behind These Walls, both of which aired on Tennis Channel. Recent work as Cinematographer includes the documentaries Private Violence (HBO) and The Loving Story (HBO), 6 seasons of the Peabody and multiple Emmy winning series A Chef’s Life (PBS) and the spin off Vivian Howard series Somewhere South.
