Recent Press
Sundance NOW Review: Bending Steel
While I’ve only seen a small handful of the roughly two-dozen documentaries featured in this year’s festival, this year’s program offers further proof of Tribeca’s importance as a nonfiction showcase. Take Bending Steel, which is more than just a story about the return of an “old-school strongman,” as aspiring steel-bender Chris Schoeck (rhymes with Shrek) calls himself. While Dave Carroll’s sensitive debut film could fall into a line of sports documentaries about individuals overcoming the odds—which are in abundant supply at Tribeca thanks to its partnership with ESPN Films—Bending Steel is a subtler observational film, with an astounding unforeseen arc[...]
Bending Steel Q+A Tribeca Film Festival
The Bending Steel Q+A from Tribeca Film Festival feat. Dave Carroll, Ryan Scarfuro and CHRIS WONDER SCHOECK at Clearview Chelsea Cinema 04.24.13.
NY Daily News: 'Bending Steel' about Chris Schoeck at Tribeca Film Festival
Film director Dave Carroll was doing laundry in the basement of his Long Island City apartment building a few years back when he heard unusual noises, what sounded like strained grunts and clanging metal. His dog, Gizmo, heard the noises, too, and when she dashed off to check it out, Carroll followed.
Carroll and Gizmo turned a corner and saw Chris Schoeck, a short, muscular man whose cropped strawberry blond hair and a gymnast’s build that make him look like a musclebound Opie, standing near a caged storage space, surrounded by piles of torn telephone books, twisted horseshoes and bent nails. Carroll recognized Schoeck as the uncomfortable neighbor who never made eye contact when they rode the elevator together.
Carroll picked up his dog, apologized for interrupting Schoeck, and backed away, but all that twisted metal made an impression — and sparked a friendship that resulted in “Bending Steel,” a deeply moving documentary that is one of the surprise hits of the Tribeca Film Festival[…]
New York Post Review: Bending Steel
Focus on Tribeca: The Coney Island Strongman gets an update in ‘Bending Steel’
Queens native Chris Shoeck, 45, has spent much of his life in isolation, but in the documentary “Bending Steel,” he decides to undertake a new journey surprisingly dependent on crowd approval — becoming an old school Strongman. The movie follows Schoeck as he develops his craft — essentially showing metal who’s boss — and works toward the dream of performing at Coney Island. But while Schoeck grows in strength, it’s his emotional journey from a shy, anxious man to a true performer that’s captivating audiences at Tribeca Film Festival screenings this week.
We spoke with the film’s director, Dave Carroll, producer Ryan Scafuro and of course, the strongman himself, Chris Schoeck.[...]
