Rockport Film Festival 2008

Six Man, Texas is about community and commitment and survival. Set against the backdrop of shrinking rural economies, it is a story of tiny towns with schools too small for 11-man football. Over 120 rural schools in Texas, including Whitharral, Guthrie, Aquilla, Sanderson and Three Way, play a six-man version. Far from being downsized football, the games are lifelines in their small communities. Everyone in town attends, embracing the players as family. This sense of community keeps hope alive in the midst of increasing economic pressures. Three Way School is typical of rural Texas schools with one exception, there is no town. With no viable towns left in Three Way's district, the school has consolidated five rural school districts since 1945. But Three Way School is slowly losing students and struggling to keep the doors open in the face of shrinking revenues. Three Way School finally succumbs, graduating its last class of eight seniors and ending generations of community pride and continuity. In Central Texas, Aquilla has been slowly losing population for decades. Today, 136 people remain to support a school, a cotton gin, a post office and the tradition of Six Man Football. But tiny Aquilla has its first ever Cinderella season. Can Aquilla win, and win what really counts? Can the rural towns of Six Man, Texas keep their schools open and keep playing the game that unifies and defines their small communities?