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WNBA star Brittney Griner believes her new documentary about her time in prison in Russia can be compared to the current situation in the United States.
With ICE agents cracking down on immigration in major cities across the country, Griner told The Hollywood Reporter that she hopes her 30 for 30 documentary, which premieres at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday night and will air later this year on ESPN, will “shed some light” on what the country can become “if we keep letting this happen.
“Right now we’re in a very bad place, especially with everything that’s going on in Minnesota and right across our country,” Griner told the paper. “I definitely think people will understand a little bit more now and be able to see some comparisons.”
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Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42) grabs a rebound in front of Phoenix Mercury forward Brianna Turner, right, during the second half in Arlington, Texas, June 9, 2023. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Titled “The Brittney Griner Story,” the documentary by Alexandria Stapleton will show what Griner went through during her 10 months as a Russian prisoner, which included time in a penal colony known for its brutal conditions.
Stapleton also agrees with Griner’s point of view about the film.
“When we started, so much of BG’s history was still very foreign,” Stapleton added. “And now to revisit it and be in the middle of everything that’s exploding in Minnesota and across the United States, it’s crazy. I hope people can see this story and see it as a cautionary tale … almost knock some sense into people.
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“Hopefully this can be a movie that can make a change.”
Griner, 35, added: “I hope people get the sense that, ‘When we come together, we can stop what’s going on.’ We can change what’s going on right now in our country.”
The documentary will show Griner’s upbringing and her relationship with wife Cherelle. And while her time at Baylor and in the WNBA will be highlighted, her seven years playing in Russia before her arrest will take center stage.
Griner has discussed what her life was like in the Russian detention center, which included some horrific details about what led one of her cellmates to prison.
Griner appeared on Cam Newton’s “Funky Friday” podcast last year, and the Atlanta Dream star discussed his time in prison. During that conversation, Griner explained how inmates were not segregated based on the crimes they committed. So while she said most inmates were in prison for murder or drugs, one of her early cellmates was there for a heinous reason.
Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury speaks to the media on April 27, 2023 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
“I had a cellmate in the beginning. I thought there was something wrong with her,” Griner said. “She acted like a child, but she was a grown woman. But she acted very much like a teenage child. And then she had burn marks all over her, and I found that out after she sold videos online of her husband and her child – together. And that’s who they had me in a cell with.
“There was a huge bloodstain on the mattress. I had no soap, no toilet paper. That was the moment where I just felt less than human,” Griner added during a sit-down interview with ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in 2024.
Griner was arrested after realizing she left vape cartridges in her luggage at a Russian airport in February 2022 while playing basketball abroad. She was later transferred to the Russian penal colony about 300 miles outside Moscow after receiving a nine-year prison sentence.
Griner served 10 months before being released as part of a prisoner exchange. As part of the documentary, former President Joe Biden gave an interview in which he said he was moved to try to make a deal for Griner after Cherelle and Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Griner’s longtime manager, met with him for more than two hours at the White House, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Griner adds that Biden was “definitely a personal hero of mine” after he brokered her release in exchange for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, also known as “The Merchant of Death,” on Dec. 8, 2022.
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner questions a call during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Dallas Wings in Arlington, Texas, on June 9, 2023. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
At the time, some were outraged that Griner was released, while Marine veteran Paul Whelan, who was also incarcerated at the time, was not. The documentary notes that Griner went out of her way to write a letter to Biden asking, among other things, for Whelan’s release, according to the outlet.
“I’m human and sometimes it makes me worry, it makes me want to say something,” Griner added. “But at the same time, a lot of these people are just looking to get noticed in their mediocre lives, and they need a response from me or whoever they’re attacking to feel important because they want their two seconds of fame. I try to do a good job of ignoring that.”
Griner enters her 13th WNBA season this year. The nine-time All-Star and six-time All-WNBA selection finished her first year with the Dream after spending 11 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. She was unable to play in 2022 due to her detention in Russia.
