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For the first time ever, in 2010 an African country, South Africa, will be the host for the World Cup. Always attentive to the hottest issues from the African continent and above all to the images that this continent produces, the Festival has decided to dedicate a section to the films and videos which in recent years have dealt with the most impassioned and contradictory aspects of the phenomenon of football in Africa. We will be presenting the reportage by journalist Corrado Zunino, Il Mercato della Coppa d’Africa, filmed in Accra during the Africa Cup of Nations, a journey through the pitches (the fields of red earth, pitches of sun-baked earth, yards, arenas and landfills) where the hopes of young African footballers are “played” out; the classic film of African cinema Le ballon d’or (The Golden Football) by Guinea’s Cheick Doukouré which tells the story of Bandian. This young boy lives in an African village and follows football matches on the radio, dreaming of one day being able to imitate his idols, the great African champions. This film, which since 1994 has gone right round the world, is perhaps the only fiction feature film made by an African wholly on football, despite the enormous importance of this sport in the continent. Football in Africa also means redemption, regaining dignity, salvation from social deterioration and overcoming religious prejudice. This is shown by two very recent South African films we have selected: Streetball by Demetrius Wren and More Than Just a Game by Junaid Ahmed. The first one tells the story of seven street kids who are selected to play in the Homeless World Cup 2008 in Australia. The other film, by alternating interviews, archive footage and fiction, tells the true story of five political activists who were held in the infamous prison of Robben Island by the apartheid regime, who were able to resist long years of imprisonment by forming a football team to vent their passion and channel their energy. The Cameroon director Florence Ayisi, with her Zanzibar Soccer Queens then offers us a fine portrait of the Women Fighters, the most important team of women’s football in Tanzania, which has to cope with the prejudices laid down by Islam. Football is interwoven with politics in Entre la coupe et l’éléction by Monique Phoba Mbeka and Guy Kabeya Muya, which follows the research by two young Congolese who decide to make a documentary for a lasting memory of the stars of the national team who had taken part in the 1974 World Cup. But we know that the football phenomenon is even more complex. We are also presenting films in this section which have tried to investigate the dark side of the business of football which obviously affects Africa as well. Highly critical, Fahrenheit 2010 by Craig Tanner is a South African/Australian co-production: if TV audiences all over the world are looking forward to the World Cup and in South Africa the excitement is increasing and the decisive moment is approaching, there are many questions that arise behind the scenes and what this major media event means in a country that is still thwarted by far-reaching contradictions. |
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