In this Superbowl week Peter Landesman’s latest film offers food for thought – and we’re not talking Buffalo wings. Concussion tells the story of unlikely hero Dr. Bennet Omalu a Nigerian pathologist who, while working as forensic medical examiner in Pittsburgh, comes to see a pattern of abnormal cerebral deterioration in a series of deceased pro football players. His work details what would become know as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative syndrome caused by repeated concussions, which many athletes are subjected to. Will Smith plays the doctor whose groundbreaking and controversial studies become the target of the NFL. We spoke to the filmmakers about a movie both topical and timely.

Luca Celada