Zanzibar Soccer Dreams
(Florence Ayisi & Catalin Brylla, 2016, 65 mins)

Synopsis
Zanzibar Soccer Dreams (ZSD) presents the dawn of a new era for women’s soccer in Zanzibar, a predominantly Muslim Island in the Indian Ocean. ZSD is a follow-up to Zanzibar Soccer Queens (2007), which focused on Women Fighters, a team of strong-willed Muslim women determined to play soccer to better their lives. Playing soccer has taken the women beyond the borders of Zanzibar and the boundaries of their prescriptive roles - they traveled to Germany!
ZSD reveals personal and societal transformations borne out of women’s persistence to pursue their soccer passions despite obstacles and challenges. Their resistance is changing social attitudes towards women’s soccer. Nassra Mohamed’s vision and commitment to establish soccer for girls in schools has gained the momentum that could develop and sustain women’s soccer. The government has listened. Today in Zanzibar, Muslim schoolgirls can equally participate in soccer as part of physical education. As one schoolgirl declares, “something great has happened to girls” who now have the right to play!
Festival Screenings
Peabody Award
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Cannes Film Festival, Prix Art et Essai
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Cannes Film Festival, Special Mention Europa Cinemas
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Int'l Documentary and Film Festival, Amsterdam, Audience Award
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British Independent Film Awards, Best Doc Nominee
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Women’s Film Critics Circle, Adrienne Shelly Award
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The Royal TV Programme Awards, Best Single Doc
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Hawaii Int'l Film Festival, Best Documentary
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Royal Anthropological Institute FF, Audience Award
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Santa Barbara Film Festival, Social Justice Award
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RAI Film Festival, Oxford, Basil Wright Award
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Grierson Award, Best Doc on Contemporary Issue, UK
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Al-Jazeera TV Festival, Silver Award
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Belfast Film Festival, 1st Maysles Award
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The Tel-Aviv Intl Documentary FF, Best Int'l Film
Trailers





