Zanzibar Soccer Dreams
(2016, 52’- Co-directed with Catalin Brylla)
Synopsis
Zanzibar Soccer Dreams presents the dawn of an era for women’s football in Zanzibar. This film is a follow-up to the 2007 Zanzibar Soccer Queens which focused on Women Fighters Football Club, a team of strong-willed Muslim women determined to play soccer to better their lives. The women’s resistance to cultural norms has taken them beyond the borders of their country, and away from the confines of negative attitudes. When the players visited Potsdam, Germany, in 2009, this created a buzz and attitudes started to change. The once marginalised football “hooligans” are considered ‘cultural Ambassadors. As one player declares, “Men who used to say you are hooligans, have no more words left”. Muslim schoolgirls can now play soccer as part of their physical education, but despite limited football equipment and facilities, the girls cherish the freedom and the right to play. One schoolgirl reflects on how she “used to get irritated that only boys could play football.” Another girl expresses her delight and pride that “Something great has happened to girls.”
Festival Screening Highlights
Canadian Sport Film Festival – World Premiere & Closing Night Film – May 2016
Zanzibar International Film Festival – (ZIFF), July 2016 – Africa Premiere
Official Selection, Lisbon International Film Festival – 2016 Summer Edition
Arusha African Film Festival in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda – Nov. 2016
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series – New York – Oct. 2016
TrueDoc Documentary Festival, Ukraine – September 2016
Cambridge African Film Festival – Arts Picture House Cambridge – Oct. 2016
Watch-Africa: Wales African Film Festival. – Oct & Nov. 2016; Touring in Wales
Magic Lantern Cinema, Tywyn (Mid Wales – October 2016
Chaplaincy, University of South Wales – Black History Month, October 2016
Special Screening for the Swansea Ladies Football Club – November 2016
The Pickle Factory, Bristol – Nov. 2016
King’s College London – 7th November 2016
Africa in Motion, Edinburgh and Glasgow – October & November 2016
Silver Theatre and Cultural Center – American Film Institute – Washington DC – March 2017
Deptford Cinema, London – August 2017
Women of The Lens Festival of Film, Digital and Broadcast – London – November 2017
Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, Germany – November 2017
International Documentary Festival of Ierapetra Awards, Greece – August 2018
Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF), San Jose, USA – October 2018
Lake International Pan African Film Festival, Nairobi, Kenya – November 2018
University of Ghana, Legon – Screened during the Africa Regional Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), November 2018
