Trysten Williams ’25 never intended to make a film about the Morehouse College Polo Club. What started as media promotion for the team would turn into director Kendi King’s senior thesis at Spelman College. However, when media outlets outside of Morehouse attempted to alter the narrative of the polo club, Williams and King took it upon themselves to properly preserve the team’s culture through their film, “From Rodeo to Polo: The First HBCU Polo Team”.
Since 2024, Emmy-nominated “From Rodeo to Polo” has garnered numerous awards and film festival invitations. This year alone, the documentary has been selected for the MountainFilm Festival, the March On Festival and the Reframing Cinema Film Festival. The film also won the Audience Choice Award and Best Documentary at the HBCU Film Festival, as well as the Special Jury Prize at the March On festival.
The documentary will make its next appearances at the Diaspora Festival of Black and Independent Film, the Silicon Valley African Film Festival and DOC NYC.
Bringing country to the sport of kings
“From Rodeo to Polo” takes you through the polo team’s three-month journey to competing against Yale University in their qualifying United States Polo Association matchup. When King first started filming the project, she was immediately enticed by the team’s authenticity during practice.
Even though most of the team was new to the sport of polo, they let their country roots guide them towards mastery of the sport. Immediately, King knew that she had a story.
“Every single practice, they’re getting exponentially better,” King said. “To see them in this elite space, but being 1000 percent themselves…I recognized the contradiction.”
More than just cowboy boots
With both King and Williams placing cultural preservation at the forefront of this project, the historical context of the term “cowboy” is also addressed in the film. Williams especially takes this aspect of the film seriously because of the prevalence of deep South culture and how it has been taken for granted.
“For us, that’s something sacred,” Williams said. “That actually means something to me. It’s like a rite of passage. I had to work for this or live a certain lifestyle, so just bringing that awareness was really our big thing.”
The success of the film hasn’t diverted King and Williams from their focus. Although being the youngest faces at festivals like MountainFilm has given them opportunities to grow their network as filmmakers, they have continued to cultivate the stories of the African diaspora at the epicenter of their purpose in life.
“Sometimes the things we do as Black people and things that come out of the AUC are short-lived,” King said. “Whether or not there will be a polo team ten years from now, there will always be this capsule that this happened, that they were here, and that these men were in these spaces.”
Giving back to polo
With the polo club now operating under 501(c) (3) status, Williams also plans to expand the team beyond a space for athletics. Through partnerships and financial backing, he intends to create a space for students from rural communities to engage with deep south culture for years to come.
“Coming to Atlanta was a big culture shock,” he said. “Polo gave us a chance to slow down…that fellowship is needed and crucial, and that community is needed to thrive.”
King especially understands the weight this project carries during this given time. With numerous attacks on free speech and historical accuracy from governmental and corporate forces, both she and Williams believe the output of this film is tantamount to keeping Black history alive.
“Sankofa; you can only know where you’re going if you know where you’re from,” King said. “We’re big on Black power and Black future, and that comes with making sure that we document so that everyone knows we have a past.”
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