Two of the short films being showcased at the 2023 edition of Denmark’s Shoot! Festival are worth a quick watch or mention.
Modern Football (2018)
Modern Football (2018) is a 10-minute poem showing why we love soccer. Putting together snippets of lower league football in the rural area of Aragón, Spain, we see how the games are supported by life long players and fans. The geographic settings are gorgeous and remind me of pitches I’ve been to in Macchu Pichu and Iceland.
- Modern Football
- released in 2018
- In Spanish with English sub-titles
- Director: Kauri Multimedia (Diego Vivanco and Juan Sierra)
- Watch the Film on Vimeo
On the Road (2018)
On the Road (2018) is the odyssey of a soccer ball, a self-described experimental travel documentary. At 24 minutes, this Danish short is a little too long. There is no music and no titles, so you don’t know the ball’s journey unless you recognize the locales. But it tells a little story, first focusing on the streets, then the ball, and then the interactions with people. By the end of the film, the ball feels like a person, much like Wilson in the Tom Hanks film Cast Away. It’s not for everyone, but if you liked the Zidane art film, you might enjoy On the Road. (I really wondered how they got the ball to roll so fast and straight for so long in the shots.)
- On the Road
- released in 2018
- no dialogue
- Director: Mikkell Niemann
- Watch the Film on youtube
