John Curley Center for Sports Journalism

Quiet Sundays

“Quiet Sundays,” the Curley Center's first major foray into documentary filmmaking, focuses on die-hard NFL fans in England. The film was shot on a 10-day working trip to London by students who covered two NFL games at Wembley Stadium in 2017. Students found the main characters, arranged the interviews, shot the film, and edited it. Once it was complete, they applied to film festivals and represented the Center at those events, from England to Las Vegas.

The film won several honors, including:

  • Best Student Film at the Dam Short Film Festival in Las Vegas;
  • Best Student Film at the Coronado International Film Festival in San Diego; and
  • Best Editing in a Documentary at the Southampton International Film Festival in England.

“Quiet Sundays” also earned an Award of Excellence from the Broadcast Education Association, a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award nomination as a university student production, and was named best student film in a monthly competition sponsored by the Online Film Festival. It also screened at festivals in: Lake Charles, Louisiana; New York City; and Pittsburgh.

John Affleck

“I’m happy to see our crew get credit for all the hard work they did on 'Quiet Sundays,' and it's gratifying simply to know that people like the film. While the real reward of such a project is doing the project, watching this run of success is certainly nice.”
— John Affleck, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society and director of the Curley Center