Hurley Haywood Doc to Premiere at Napa Valley Film Festival
Co-produced by Patrick Dempsey, Hurley debuts Nov. 8 on West Coast before heading east for Nov. 15 screening at Florida film fest.
Legendary race driver and Porsche Ambassador Hurley Haywood will make his film premiere at the Napa Valley Film Festival in California on November 8. Directed by Derek Dodge, Hurley tells the story of Haywood’s life and career in and out of the Porsche race cars he helped make famous. Veteran film and television actor Patrick Dempsey, himself a sports car racer and Porsche Ambassador, joined with Dodge to help produce the 83-minute documentary. The world debut will be screened in the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center on Thursday at 8:45 p.m.
Haywood, a Chicago native and current Florida resident, is the first driver to win 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same year, 1977. He has won a combined 10 wins at Daytona, Le Mans, and the 12 Hours of Sebring, and his record includes five Daytona titles (’73, ‘75, ‘77, ‘79, ‘91), three 24 Hours of Le Mans victories (‘77, ‘83, ‘94), and he has stood on the top-step of the podium twice in Sebring (‘73, ‘81). He was also the fastest rookie qualifier for the 1980 Indianapolis 500.
In March, Haywood released his memoir, Hurley: From the Beginning. The 420-page tome details the racer’s personal life and nearly 50-year career that includes his professional relationship with Peter Gregg and his private life as a gay man in motorsports. I
Founded in 2009, Cinema Napa Valley hosts the Napa Valley Film Festival each year to celebrate the cinematic arts. Over 90 indie films will be screened over the course of the festival, which takes place Nov. 7 to 11. Hurley will have three showings. Following the Thursday premiere, the film will also be shown on Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. and Nov. 11 at 8:30 p.m.
The film will receive an East Coast premiere on Nov. 15 at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, where Hurley will be screened at 3 p.m.