Reviews of soccer movies and football films
Soccer movie or football film directed or produced by Africans or about football in Africa
Fintar o Destino is a strikingly beautiful film, but not at all in a visual sense. Filmed in standard definition, the story immerses you in Cape Verdean village life and the regrets of Mané (Carlos Germano), a frustrated 50 year old former footballer. He didn’t leave the island when he had the chance, and to defy the taunt of a friend, he uses all his savings to try and recoup his dignity.
Continue reading “Fintar o Destino (1998) is a beautiful time capsule”
The problem of human trafficking through football, also known as football trafficking, has been covered in the media for almost 10 years. In Soka Afrika, Suridh Hassan puts together a sensitive portrayal of 2 teenage footballers trying to make a career in Europe in 2009. However, I do not recommend watching this film because it puts a good face on bad agents and furthers the myth of sports as a key way out of poverty. Continue reading “Review: Soka Afrika (2011)”
Megan went to Zanzibar and was looking for a pickup game. She found a women’s team called the New Generation Queens. They were getting chased off fields because Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, and women aren’t supposed to play football. Continue reading “Review: New Generation Queens (2015)”
First-time Director Pablo de la Chica initially set out to make a documentary about the young Ugandan players who had a chance to visit FC Barcelona in 2007. While investigating, de la Chica found Mubiru Reagan playing soccer in a garbage dump near the Mandela National Stadium. Continue reading “Review: The Other Kids (2016)”
During the month the 2010 World Cup is played in South Africa, Director Benjamin Kahlmeyer shows the life that goes on, meanwhile, in the impoverished township of Mamelodi. Continue reading “Review: Meanwhile in Mamelodi (2011)”
Men in the Arena comes to your screen in the time of the xenophobic Trump Administration. It took over 3 years for Writer-Director J.R. Biersmith to deliver his tale of 2 young Somalian footballers, whose steadfast friendship and soccer skills are crucial in bringing them to the USA. Continue reading “Review: Men in The Arena (2017)”
Part travelogue, part cultural anthropology, and part football history, Director Richard Shepherd’s film Laduma! Benin’s Journey captures an insider’s view as a small African nation tries to qualify for WC 2010. Says he, “Documentaries are a labor of love… if it makes money or enlightens some people, bonus.” Continue reading “Review: Laduma! Benin’s Journey (2011)”
As much as I like parts of the film Eighteam, much of it circumnavigates the tragic plane crash that killed almost the entire Zambian National Team on April 27, 1993, off the coast of Gabon.
Continue reading “Review: Eighteam (2014)”I Play Soccer is a 6-minute short film about the Sierra Leone football academy run by the Craig Bellamy Foundation. By Stefan Lovgren, the film is more advertising than documentary. Continue reading “Review: I Play Soccer (2011)”
Originally called Fahrenheit 2010, this film provides reams of detail on the issues and controversy around hosting the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa. First-time Director Craig Tanner interviews leaders on both sides (in South Africa in Nov-Dec 2008).
Continue reading “World Cup Soccer in Africa: Who Really Wins? (2010)”