MEDIA RELEASE

Mayor William J. Holtzinger

CONTACT: Susan S. Harding, Acting Public Information Officer, 301-600-1385

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 15, 2007

MovieTime at the Tivoli presents

When We Were Kings

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Frederick, MD ---

Continuing it’s salute to Black History Month, the Weinberg Center for the Arts is proud

to present “When We Were Kings”, a film based on the classic fight between Muhammad Ali

and George Foreman on Saturday, February 17, 2007. A fascinating document of

a great moment in sporting and cultural history, “When We Were Kings” was nominated

for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature and won a Special Jury

Recognition Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 1974, boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman came to the still-emerging

and politically unstable African nation of Zaire for what Ali called the "Rumble in the

Jungle," a highly publicized world heavyweight championship fight. Documentarian

Leon Gast flew to Zaire to film both the fight and a music festival (featuring B.B. King,

The Pointer Sisters, and Miriam Makeba) organized by promoter Don King. Gast's

footage was shelved for 22 years due to legal and financial problems, but when it was

finally released in 1996, When We Were Kings provided a vivid portrait of the

controversial Ali. At 33, he was considered past his prime for the Zaire fight, and his

refusal to serve in the U.S. military on moral grounds was still an issue in the minds of

many. But here, Ali displays strength, skill, intelligence, and tremendous charm, making

it clear how he became one of the most renowned figures in the world of sports. And,

while George Foreman is best known today as a genial commercial pitchman, he's seen

here as a strong, forbidding opponent, not especially articulate and seemingly

unstoppable. The film also features interviews with several notable fight fans, including

Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, and Spike Lee.

To purchase tickets for this classic, call the Weinberg Center for the Arts at 3

301-600-2828, 301-600-2838 TTY or stop by the Box Office Tuesday thru Friday

10:00am to 4:00pm and Saturday 10:00am to 2:00pm. Tickets are available online at

www.weinbergcenter.org.

The Weinberg Center for the Arts, a municipal facility of the City of Frederick, is

located at 20 West Patrick Street in downtown Frederick, Maryland. The historic theatre

opened in 1926 as a silent movie place known as the Tivoli, and it and was donated to

the City of Frederick in 1978. Today as one of the region’s premier presenting facilities, the 1,100

seat Weinberg Center offers professional LIVE! Series, including dance, music, theatre, family

performances and films, weekday performances for students, and classic movies.

Performance space and professional services are available to a variety of community arts

groups, civic and business organizations, and other arts promoters. Programming at the

Weinberg Center for the Arts is made possible with support from the City of Frederick,

Frederick County Government, Maryland State Arts Council, Frederick Arts Council,

Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Frederick News-Post, State Farm Insurance, The

Tivoli Society, other corporate and individual donors.. For more information about

upcoming events at the Weinberg Center, please call the Box Office at 301-228-2828 or

visit www.weinbergcenter.org.

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www.cityoffrederick.com