# Word Wars

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{{Short description|2004 American documentary film}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Word Wars
| image          = Word Wars poster.jpg
| producer       = Eric Chaikin
| director       = [Eric Chaikin](/source/Eric_Chaikin)<br>[Julian Petrillo](/source/Julian_Petrillo)
| starring       = [Joe Edley](/source/Joe_Edley)<br>[Matt Graham](/source/Matt_Graham_(Scrabble))<br>[Marlon Hill](/source/Marlon_Hill)<br>[Joel Sherman](/source/Joel_Sherman)
| music          = Thor Madsen
| cinematography = Laela Kilbourn
| editing        = Conor O'Neill
| distributor    = [7th Art Releasing](/source/7th_Art_Releasing)
| released       = {{Film date|2004}}
| runtime        = 80 minutes
| language       = English
}}

'''''Word Wars: Tiles and Tribulations on the Scrabble Circuit''''' is a 2004 American [documentary film](/source/documentary_film) directed by [Eric Chaikin](/source/Eric_Chaikin) and [Julian Petrillo](/source/Julian_Petrillo) about competitive ''[Scrabble](/source/Scrabble)''.<ref>[https://www.today.com/popculture/film-profiles-culture-scrabble-wbna5725544 AP via MSNBC "Film profiles the culture of Scrabble" August 16, 2004]</ref> The film was an official selection at the 2004 [Sundance film festival](/source/Sundance_film_festival),<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2003-12-02-sundance_x.htm ''USA Today'' "Sundance announces portion of 2004 lineup" 2 December 2003]</ref> had a 25-city theatrical run, was included as part of the [Discovery Times Channel](/source/Discovery_Times_Channel)'s "Screening Room" series, and was nominated for numerous awards, including a 2004 Documentary [Emmy](/source/Emmy) for "Best Artistic or Cultural Programming" and an International Documentary Association (IDA) Award. The film is distributed by 7th Art Releasing.

The film follows four players in the nine months leading up to the 2002 [National Scrabble Championship](/source/National_Scrabble_Championship), which was held in [San Diego](/source/San_Diego), [California](/source/California): [Joe Edley](/source/Joe_Edley), [Matt Graham](/source/Matt_Graham_(Scrabble)), [Marlon Hill](/source/Marlon_Hill), and [Joel Sherman](/source/Joel_Sherman). These players, as does Chaikin, also appear in [Stefan Fatsis](/source/Stefan_Fatsis)'s book ''[Word Freak](/source/Word_Freak_(book))''. Fatsis and Chaikin are both tournament ''Scrabble'' players themselves.<ref>''The Washington Times'' "Fightin' words spur vivid documentary" page M24 accessed via Ebbsco's Australia New Zealand Reference Centre 20 June 2007</ref>

== Soundtrack ==
* E Wolf & the Moneylenders – "Paralyzed" (Written by Chalkin & Haber)
* Your Mom – "The One" (Written by Your Mom)
* The Minutemen – "Do You Want New Wave (Or Do You Want the Truth)" (Written by Mike Watt)
* The Minutemen – "The Glory of Man" (Written by Mike Watt)
* [Andrew Chaikin](/source/Kid_Beyond) & Austin Willacy – "[Across the Universe](/source/Across_the_Universe)" (Written by [John Lennon](/source/John_Lennon) and [Paul McCartney](/source/Paul_McCartney))
* Joel Sherman – "Across the Universe" (Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0390632|title=Word Wars}}

{{Scrabble}}

Category:Documentary films about words and language
Category:Works about Scrabble
Category:2004 films
Category:2004 documentary films
Category:American documentary films
Category:Documentary films about competitions
Category:Films shot in Baltimore
Category:2004 English-language films
Category:2004 American films
Category:English-language documentary films

{{arts-documentary-film-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Word Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_Wars) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_Wars?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.