Las Leonas is an 8v8 tournament in Rome, where 6 recreational-level womens teams give their all on a small soccer pitch. They are almost all immigrants in Italy, and are mostly from South America. These women in the 30s and 40s play football on their only day off in the week. It gives them community and a little joy in a life of struggle and menial jobs.
First-feature Writer-Directors Isabel Achaval and Chiara Bondì deliver a documentary that touches the heart and shows that friends and family keep you going.
In the Story
There are 6 teams: Estrellita Juvenil, Club Colombia, Peruanas en Roma, Paraguay, Sudamerica, and Corazon Latino. Three of the teams represent the players’ country of origin.
Estrellita is one of the best teams and is diverse, including a Moroccan and 2 Chinese players. They are also the oldest team, with an average age over 45. They have been a team for 10 years and are led by the very capable Ana Pirlog, who is from Moldova.
The way the film captures the women’s stories feels different from most documentaries and ethnographic studies. Because no matter how difficult the player’s story is, there is always some joy to heal and paint over the bad thoughts and memories. That joy comes from families, friends, and soccer, as well as a resilience that resists the negatives in their existence.
Most of the women interviewed either clean houses or are caregivers. They came to Italy without any experience in doing either, and they express frustration that this is the only work they can get. Elvira bikes over 200 miles a week to get to her various cleaning jobs. Back home, some women experienced child abuse, one escaped loan sharks, and one fled from the inequality of Muslim women in Morocco. Three women live together in one room with one baby and cook on their balcony. For some, the greatest hope is to get a residence permit so that they can leave the country to travel and visit their home country.
The Soccer
The Las Leonas tournament could be defined as more of a league. Games are played weekly and are 8v8 with 25-minute halves. The game play is mostly single-touches patched together, but basically this is recreational adult soccer. There are a few ringers, such as Joan, who says she played for her U17 national team, and Vania from Cape Verde, who plays with men. Ana Prilog is a player-coach on the field who teaches her teammates how to defend.
For the event, the producer pays for some very nice trophies.
A local web radio station for Latinos en Italia — Vox Mundi Web Radio — reports on the scores. Their busty presenter Lucero Velez Arrieta likes to wear very high heels and hot pants to the field.
In Conclusion
I’m glad I came across this DVD at my library, because I did not realize that South Americans are filling domestic jobs in Italy. I have reviewed quite a few films about immigrants or refugees playing football. En el Septimo Dia is perhaps the most similar, except it is a drama about male immigrants playing recreational Sunday league football in New York. I much prefer Las Leonas, because even while sharing sad stories, it is still uplifting. That is real storytelling.
8 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 8
Resources:
- Released: 2022-09-03 (Venice Film Fest)
- I watched this on DVD
- 83 minutes
- In Spanish and Italian with English sub-titles
- IMDB
- Director: Isabel Achaval , Chiara Bondì
- Stars: Ana Pirlog , Liz Joan Pecho Huaranga , Ivanilda Duarte Ramos
- Watch the Trailer
