Slamdance Film Festival 2026 Review: “Kings of Venice”

By Morgan Roberts

Directors: Sveinn Ingimundarson & S.D. Saltarelli
Runtime: 95 minutes
Year: 2025

Paddle tennis is a serious business. In the documentary, “Kings of Venice,” filmmakers Sveinn Ingimundarson and S.D. Saltarelli explore the characters dedicated to the sport. Obviously, it’s important to note that paddle tennis IS NOT pickleball. The game play, the court, and the equipment differ between the sports. But as pickleball has taken off with popularity, the defenders and players of paddle tennis aim to keep the sport alive - and relevant.

At Venice Beach, paddle tennis players flock to a tournament organized by Scott Freedman. Freedman was once the reigning paddle tennis champion, but now, much like the sport itself, Freedman’s relevance is waining. In an attempt to relive his glory days - and appease his ego - he organizes this tournament between paddle tennis teams. The sport itself does not have much money, making those who play exceedingly passionate. Freedman isn’t the only one. A whole host of individuals flock to Venice Beach to play paddle tennis on the courts there.

Freedman manages to raise the funds for a $50,000 1st place prize for the mixed-doubles team that wins the championship game. An easy adversary emerges when one of the teams is comprised of two pickleball players. Not only does the tournament become a litmus test of who are the best players in paddle tennis, but the legitimacy of the sport as a whole.

Despite there being tension during the championship itself, it is difficult to root for many of the players. There is an egotism that perfuses the film that makes it hard to see any of the players as true underdogs. Sure, the sport itself is the underdog, but the sometimes childish antics or outbursts that only white men could get away with make it hard to truly connect to the people at the center of this story. These are people who feel more like caricatures than actual humans, and it’s that surface-level exploration that leaves something to be desired.

“Kings of Venice” paints a portrait of an underappreciated sport but lacks an inquisitive interrogation into the people whose personalities are so deeply rooted in paddle tennis.  For people looking to learn more about paddle tennis, the film gives a great crash course in understanding the history of the sport and how it differs from pickleball (a sport that has risen in popularity over the past five or six years). Nevertheless, if we had been able to truly delve into the passionate athletes of the sport, it may have rounded out the examination of this world a bit more.

Grade: C+
Pair This Film With: “Battle of the Sexes” (2017) dirs. Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton