'Sharp Edges': Neon to release vintage doc on Tonya Harding

Sandra Luckow made film 32 years ago on future scandal-plagued figure skater 

A documentary about teenage Tonya Harding is about to get a theatrical release, more than 30 years after it was made.

Neon, the company behind the 2017 Oscar-nominated film I, Tonya, has announced it will open Sharp Edges in theaters on Friday, July 6 for a single week. The film, directed by Yale University student Sandra Luckow in 1986, explores Harding on the cusp of fame as she competed in her first National Figure Skating Championships. At the time, Harding was 15.

Before I, Tonya and even before 'the incident,' there was Sharp Edges.

--From Neon

"The film includes interviews with both Tonya and her now infamous mother, LaVona Golden (played by Academy Award winner Allison Janney in I, Tonya)," Neon noted in a press release. "The documentary provided invaluable background for the cast and filmmakers of I, Tonya and clips from the film have been licensed over the years in numerous shows ranging from 60 Minutes to ESPN 30 for 30: The Price of Gold and most recently 20/20’s Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story."

​Sharp Edges is set to play at the Village East Cinema in New York and at the Laemmle Music Hall in Los Angeles. Neon says the film will be released globally on VOD/EST on July 17 and will begin streaming on Hulu August 3. 

I, Tonya, the fictionalized telling of Harding's story and the clubbing of her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan, earned more than $30 mil. at the box office and collected three Oscar nominations. Besides Supporting Actress, which Janney won, the film was nominated for editing and Margot Robbie's performance as Harding in the title role.