Tag: women director
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’17’ (2017) is the Jordan we are meant to see
I viewed the documentary 17 at the 2017 Arab Film Festival in San Francisco. The purpose of the festival, now in its 21st year, is to challenge the Arab stereotypes that have been promulgated in American culture. The festival films “reflect the varied realities of Arab lives around the world.”
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The bad guys win in ‘Forever Pure’ (2016)
As told to Director Maya Zinshtein, what goes on in a stadium is not just a mirror of society, but indicates the direction society is going. Forever Pure is a uniquely panoptic film of soccer and society. We see that football clubs can be a toy for oligarchs, a tool for politicians, a burning torch…
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Turkish fans under oppression in ‘Ayaktakimi’ (2015)
In Turkey, Supporters Groups are the real fans, and everyone else is just a spectator. Filmmakers Naz Gündogdu and Friedemann Pitschak have documented a life that Americans have not yet experienced: being a fan in the face of political oppression.
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![[Review] ‘Les Bleus: Une Autre Histoire de France’ (2016)](https://soccermoviemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/les-bleus.jpg)
[Review] ‘Les Bleus: Une Autre Histoire de France’ (2016)
Les Bleus: Another History of France maps the French football team performance with the nation’s social struggles from 1996-2016. But does the film convey an implicit bias? It is unique in that it does not whitewash the team’s history, and it leaves much to think about.
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‘Dennis Viollet: A United Man’ (2016) and a Busby Babe survivor
Rachel Viollet’s documentary may have started as a memorial to her father, Dennis Viollet of Manchester United fame. But as she conducted interviews and collected history, her film also became an intriguing record of how the soccer world changed around him and because of him.
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‘In the Game’ (2015) in Chicago
In the Game is a moving ethnographic study that captures both the hope and the hope deferred of girls on a high school soccer team. It is a great video example of how sports, taught by a coach with an unwavering positive attitude, can have a meaningful impact on girls of low-SES (low socioeconomic status).
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‘When Saturday Comes’ (1996) surprisingly directed by a woman
Many of the best soccer movies have been directed by women. Unfortunately, When Saturday Comes does not earn that distinction. Sean Bean plays young brewery worker Jimmy Muir, who gets the chance to tryout for his home team, Sheffield United. But Jimmy sabotages himself with his own fear, drink, and lack of self-discipline, along with…
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In ‘Will’ (2011) a child never walks alone
Within the short list of soccer films directed by women, there is a surprising number of Americans who have directed ostensibly British films. Will is just such a case. Americans Ellen Perry (Director) and Zack Anderson (Writer) have created a family film drama around Liverpool FC.
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‘Bad Parents’ (2012) roguishly true before it goes dark
The title Bad Parents is a clue that this indie film is in the Bad Grandpa, Bad Teacher, Bad Santa genre. But it is more than that because up until the 58th minute, this indie film rings roguishly true.
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‘Kicking It’ (2008) an entertaining film that matters
Kicking It is a Ted Leonsis production that tries to influence you to do good while wrapping you up in a good story. It is “filmanthropy”, according to Leonsis, a billionaire sports team owner, philanthropist, former AOL executive, and media maven. Leonsis spotted Director Susan Koch $1 million so that she could follow players in…
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Traveling the world to play pickup ‘Pelada’ (2010)
This documentary follows a pair of collegiate players who, unable to make a pro soccer team, channel their competitive-soccer addiction by traveling the world looking for Pelada — not a drug, but a Brazilian word for pick-up game.
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‘Bend It Like Beckham’ (2002) tops soccer movie box office
Bend It Like Beckham proves that when a story is close to the heart, it can make an outstanding soccer movie and family film. At $78M, BILB is probably the top-grossing soccer movie of all time (made for ~$7M).
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I liked ‘Green Street Hooligans’ (2005) even if Brits did not
After suffering the mindless violence of The Football Factory, I was reluctant to watch Green Street Hooligans. But what a surprise– Hooligans completely sucks you in.
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Football trafficking in ‘Soccer’s Lost Boys’ (2010)
Soccer’s Lost Boys is an evocative documentary about soccer trafficking in Africa. Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller interviews players, parents, and coaches to show how West African families hand over life savings to agents who promise a tryout in Europe.
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‘Johan’ (2005) finds love despite 10 footballing brothers
Johan is a very enjoyable dramedy/romance that, in a gentle way, shows that soccer is just a game, even in the Netherlands. The youngest in a family of 11 soccer-obsessed Dutch boys and their father, Johan doesn’t fit in because his obsession is music.
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If Jurgen Klinsmann preferred ‘Guys and Balls’ (2004)
This German soccer movie, Guys and Balls, is predictable but very cute. Ecki, a small-town goalkeeper and baker, is kicked off his semi-pro team for being gay. In defiance, he organizes an all-gay team to play against his former team in their home stadium, resulting in a nice strike against homophobia.
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‘Kick Like a Girl’ (2008) is full of positive role models
Kick Like a Girl is a 25-minute HBO documentary that follows a team of 8 year old girls who, having devastated all competition the previous two years, decide to get more challenge by playing in the boys division.
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Challenges of the Palestine NT in ‘Goal Dreams’ (2006)
Goal Dreams follows the Palestinian National Team in the month leading up to their all-important World Cup 2006 qualifying game against Uzbekistan. The team has many problems to overcome. They must practice in Egypt and play their game in Qatar, in an empty stadium. Six players cannot exit Gaza until 2 weeks before the game,…
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‘The Big Green’ (1995) a timeless Disney soccer movie
The Big Green is a formulaic Disney movie about an underdog soccer team. Disney knows how to create a film that doesn’t age and that can be shown to successive generations of little kids for decades. The Big Green is the Disney equivalent of a Twinkie.
