Analyss Benally had a particular reason for accepting a full-ride scholarship to play basketball for the San Jose State Spartans.
Born and raised on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, Benally said it’s common for young people to feel they lack the opportunity to leave.
“My parents wanted us to have that feeling like, even if you leave (the reservation), you’re going be fine, we’ll be here. But we don’t want you stuck here,” the 26-year-old said.
San Jose turned out to be one of the many distant places that Benally has ventured to, thanks to basketball. For the past three years, the 5-foot-7-inch guard has lived in Europe, playing basketball professionally in Romania, Albania and Kosovo. And, last year, her hoop skills brought her to a movie set, where she was cast in a small role in the fabulous new Netflix coming-of-age sports drama, “Rez Ball, which premiered over the weekend.
“So basketball is opening all these different doors that I’d never thought I’d be walking through,” Benally said about appearing in “Rez Ball.”
Her experience with “Rez Ball” has allowed her to come “full circle.” The movie, helmed by Native American director Sydney Freeland and co-produced by NBA legend LeBron James, was filmed in and around Benally’s hometown of Shiprock, New Mexico. It follows the Chuska High School Warriors, a Navajo Nation basketball team, over the course of a season. As they vie for the state championship, the Warriors reconnect with their culture as they band together after losing their star player. They also deal with common hardships for young Native Americans, including substance abuse, mental health struggles and the risk of suicide. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, the film has received glowing reviews.
“I’m only in the movie for, like, five minutes,” said Benally, speaking from New Mexico, while on her off-season. “But it’s about something really important — unfortunate events that are really common on the reservation and things that people go through every day.”
During the off-season, Benally gives back to her community by partnering with the nonprofit, Rise Above. Benally runs free basketball camps and does speaking engagements. She shares how “education is important and that basketball has taken me all over the world and brought me so many opportunities — like being in a movie.”
Benally was playing for a team in the Albania Superliga league in 2023 when her father, Brian Benally, an assistant varsity coach for a girls’ high school basketball team, learned about a call for local players to appear in “Rez Ball.” Benally’s season ended in time for her to return home and to perform in some basketball scenes in the the film’s final week of production.
“By my second or third day, we all get called into a circle to discuss what’s going to be filmed and Sydney Freeland told me, ‘Analyss,’ you’re going to have some lines,’” Benally said. “I was like, I’m not an actress. … but I said, ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’”
Benally joked that her …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
