A Most Beautiful Thing is a 2020 documentary film chronicling the history of the first US African American public high school rowing team, composed of young men from the West Side of Chicago, many of whom were in rival gangs.
In the process, Arshay Cooper, the team's captain, takes inspiration from the past and reaches out to the Chicago Police Department to show that rowing can bring even people with the most disparate of backgrounds together.
Bill Hudson, John H. Carlson, Bill McNabb and Katie McNabb, Ginny Gilder and Lynn Slaughter, Bryan White and Christine White, Bruce Herring and Tricia Herring, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, Ted Dintersmith, Derek Dudley, Doris Casap, Ashley Bekton, Chaz Ebert, and Rick Lane are also listed as executive producers.
[5] Hollywood Reporter critic Frank Scheck wrote:The timing couldn't be more fortuitous for the release of Mary Mazzio's uplifting documentary about the nation's first African American high school rowing team, which feels almost like a tonic for these troubled times… [it] powerfully demonstrates the healing potential of sports and the ways it can help bridge societal divides… A movie we could really use right now[6]Additional reviews called the film "absolutely a must watch" by Deadspin; "amazing" by the Chicago Sun-Times; "one of the best documentaries to unveil at South by Southwest" by the team at Roger Ebert; and "one of the best films this decade" by ChicagoNow.
[11] The film has had events and screenings hosted by members of Congress, the NAACP, professional sports teams, colleges and universities as well as key HBCU institutions, companies, and community groups.