MIDDLEBURY — “The Green Mountain Upset,” the feature-length documentary film that chronicles the 1982-83 Middlebury Union High School boys’ basketball team’s surprising undefeated season and state title, will premiere at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater on March 28.
As the theater’s publicity release states, “They were the boys who shook the Green Mountains” with a 24-0 season and an upset of two-time Division I state champion St. Johnsbury and standout Henry Dalrymple, who went on to star at Georgia Tech.
The film, from executive producer and MUHS 1983 graduate Mark Mooney Jr., will debut at 7 p.m. at THT that evening. Team members will be celebrated that night at a reception accompanying the screening. A second showing is set for THT on March 29 at 7 p.m., to be followed by a national DVD release.
According to the THT press release, “The ’83 Tigers had no three-point line, no Youtube to record each basket, no Twitter to describe every foul. Basketball shorts were — short. It was a different time to become legends.”
The film includes rare game footage and reflective interviews with team members, their and opposing coaches, journalists and community members.
Many team members, coaches, teachers and journalists who covered the season are traveling for the reunion at the March 28 premiere.
Mooney funded the project with a Kickstarter campaign that ultimately exceeded its target, and the film is directed by Washington, D.C., videographer Nick Hanson.
Mark Mooney Sr., a teacher and coach at Middlebury Union for more than four decades, served as the film’s principal interviewer and assistant director. Mooney Sr. captained his Pittsford High School basketball team to the 1961 Vermont state championship.
 “The Green Mountain Upset” was made in Vermont, with artwork from Hans Schmitter and Joe Bolger; narration by Marshall Eddy; original music by Banjo Dan & The Mid-nite Plowboys, Deb Brisson & The Hayburners, and The Bengsons; photographs from the Addison Independent and Valley Voice; and original television and radio recordings.
Tickets for the premiere on March 28, which also includes the reception celebrating the team members, are $30. Tickets for the March 29 showing are $10. All tickets may be purchased at www.townhalltheater.org, by calling 802-382-9222, by going to the THT box office (open noon to 5 p.m. daily except Sunday) and at the door, if available.