Olympic gold medalist Bianca Knight was a sprinter, but the documentary “Fast Dreams” was definitely a marathon for the filmmakers, who filmed her over a 17-year period. It shows her roots in Mississippi, her brief collegiate career, her time on the pro track circuit, the Olympics, motherhood and finally coaching. The film premiered at the 2023 Essence Film Festival, winning the Audience Award, and is currently nominated for a 2024 NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Documentary Film category.
The film’s three directors—Harry Davis, Alexander Tejeda and Krista Saint-Dic—remained with the project throughout. Brooklyn native Tejeda recalled a phone call from Davis in 2007 asking him to come to Austin, Texas. Knight had recently arrived at University of Texas at Austin to be a student-athlete and train under Longhorns’ track coach Beverly Kearney.
“I wasn’t really that knowledgeable about track and field, but I knew Harry ran track and had a passion for that,” said Tejeda. “We were shooting, not really having a direction at the time.”
After the end of indoor season, during which Knight won an NCAA title, she decided to leave the team and turn professional. The film then follows Knight’s journey, which included the disappointment of not making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, earning a spot on the 2012 team and winning gold as part of the 4×100 meter relay.
“Bianca had this belief in herself that she wanted to do it how she envisioned it, and she ran with her beliefs,” said Tejeda. “She believed in herself and she went for it. … Her dream was to make it, and we believed in her, but whether she won or not, we always felt there was a story.” Production Company 99 Ways Entertainment had a test screening run at a Regal Cinema in New York. Tejeda said the goal is to inspire young people.
“We want to take this film across the country and show the film because today’s youth need something different,” Tejeda said. “The message we want to portray is that failure is part of success. We want to show it to schoolkids and in addition to watching the film, we want to engage in educational discussion about resilience and perseverance.
“At the screenings in New York, we were overwhelmed,” he added. “I was surprised to see these kids asking questions afterwards. Kids [aged] 7 to high school pretty much said the same thing, ‘Never give up.’ This is exactly what we wanted.”