Special When Lit (film)
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''Special When Lit'' is a feature length
documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
about
pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
written and directed by Brett Sullivan. The film is produced by Steam Motion and Sound.


Production

Filming took place from mid-2006 to 2008 in several trips to the
U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Sweden, Australia and the UK.
Post production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. Th ...
was completed at Steam Motion and Sound in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
during 2008 and 2009.


Synopsis

The pinball industry made more money than the American film industry during the 1950s through the 1970s. ''Special When Lit'' explores the former pop icon of the
pinball machine Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
, and through interviews with fans, collectors, designers and champion players from across the globe, traces pinball's history through to the present day.


Recognition

''Eye for Film'' wrote "It's not the sort of subject that you'd think would suit a documentary, but it works surprisingly well." It "offers fascinating insights and makes for an enjoyable watch. Special When Lit is reminiscent of that other great documentary Spellbound. Both draw the audience into a world of obsession, impress upon you the level of devotion, and charm you with the people in that world" ''
Tallahassee Democrat The ''Tallahassee Democrat'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper. It covers the area centered on Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida, as well as adjacent Gadsden County, Jefferson County, and Wakulla County. The newspaper is owned by Gannett Co., ...
'' wrote that the film was a "surprisingly compelling documentary". ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' called the film a "significant flick in a lineup that runs the gamut from light to heavy religious to political".
Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove t ...
director Elliot Grove wrote that the documentary was "masterfully shot" and that its director, Brett Sullivan, was able to bring out a certain nostalgia in his film that was both intriguing and fascinating, with its interviews like "an emotional and sensitive area, with pinball’s fans describing of the game like a relationship, their faces lighting up as if they were recounting their first kiss." He found the winning film to be "encapsulating and absorbing." The ''
Montana Kaimin The ''Montana Kaimin'' is the University of Montana's student-run independent newspaper located in Missoula, Montana. The paper is printed once a week, Thursday, with special editions printed occasionally. The current editor-in-chief is Griffen ...
'' wrote "With a gripping intro, the film draws you in and keeps your attention with its larger-than-life characters."


Awards and nominations

* 2009, Won Best Feature Documentary at Los Angeles United Film Festival * 2009, Nominated for Best Documentary at
Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove t ...
* 2009, Nominated for Best Documentary at Tallahassee Film Festival * 2010, Won Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at London United Film Festival


Release and distribution

First premiered in October 2009 at London's
Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove t ...
where it was nominated for Best Documentary. Subsequent festivals included:
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festivals held annually in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The festival began in 1991, with a screening of ten Academy Award-nominated documentaries. Overview The festival screens 100 docume ...
, Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival,
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is an annual non-fiction film festival held in Missoula, Montana each February. The event showcases documentary films from around the world. The festival first began in 2003 as a seven-day event. It is now a ten- ...
,
Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. The Festival's ...
, Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival, Bronx International Film Festival, Indianapolis International Film Festival, Da Vinci Film Festival, Tallahassee Film Festival, Los Angeles United Film Festival,
USA Film Festival The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and
Wisconsin Film Festival The Wisconsin Film Festival is an annual film festival, founded in 1999. The festival is held every April in Madison, Wisconsin, and has recently been expanded from five days to eights days. The Festival presents a broad range of independent Ameri ...
. The film was picked up by PBS International Distribution for worldwide sales outside the United States. The film was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in January 2011. The
Documentary Channel A documentary channel is a specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific a ...
in the United States premiered Special When Lit 21 May 2011. The PBS Channel in the UK premiered Special When Lit 5 November 2011.


Interviewees

* Roger Sharpe * Rick Stetta * Sam Harvey * Steve Epstein * Gary Stern * Lyman Sheats Jr. * Tim Arnold * Josh Kaplan * John Broughton * Pat Lawlor * Steve Ritchie * Steve Kordek * Steve Keeler * Raphael Lankar * Koi Morris * Al Thomka


References


External links


''Special When Lit''
at the
Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
* {{Official website, http://www.specialwhenlitmovie.com/
Steam Motion and Sound
Production Company 2009 films 2009 documentary films British independent films British documentary films Works about pinball 2009 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films