Football, be sabk-eh Irani

In a country like Iran, where seventy-five percent of the population is under 25, football can tell a lot about society. For example, about the position of women, who are not allowed to enter the stadium or play the game, but they can visit training sessions and phone in during question time with the players. Director Maziar Bahari interviews a girl, whose scorching puppy love is nourished precisely by her hero’s inapproachability. The influence of soccer acquires a political dimension when the national team qualifies for the world championships and the people turn to the streets in masses for the first time since the Islamic Revolution. Soccer is not only a national binding agent, which also fills Iranian émigrés with pride, but also the focus of individual feelings, such as those of a soldier attending the match against former enemy, Iraq.