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Football
- In Iran, like many other countries, football is very important. As you can imagine, the majority of
distractions are rather limited. So football is both sport and entertainment. It’s an opportunity for
people to shout, let themselves go, expel all the pent-up energy within them. Sometimes, when a
match coincides with a demonstration, and Iran wins, the demonstration becomes more intense.
Origins of the project
- Eight years ago Iran beat Australia and qualified for the World Cup. Upon their return the play-
ers were given a triumphant welcome by the population. It is prohibited in Iran for women to enter
sports stadiums. However, this time they were granted the right to celebrate the players’ return.
Five thousand women turned up and went inside stadium, and this spurred a lot of debate as to
why women are forbidden from entering in the first place. I remember at the time reading an
article by a sports journalist, explaining that even in Ancient Greece, women were confronted
with this problem. Four hundred years B.C. women had to disguise themselves as men in order
to cheer on their sons who were sports heroes. Whether or not this is true, it triggered my first
ideas on the subject.
Also, four years ago I was living near the stadium where our football team trains. I wanted to go
and watch and my daughter wanted to come with me. I tried to explain to her that she couldn’t,
but she nevertheless wanted to try. So we set out with the entire family, that way if my daughter
was refused entry, my wife could take her back home. We went to the stadium entrance and, as
I had expected, my daughter was refused entry. I told her to go home with her mother, but she
found another way of getting into the stalls and to my surprise, she joined me. This event also
inspired my thoughts about the film, which I tucked away in a corner of my mind. When I realized
Iran once again had a chance at being selected for the World Cup, I decided the time was right to
do this film.
The Law
- There is a problem in Iran because the barrier between what is permitted and forbidden isn’t
always very clear. If, for example music is banned, you can be sure that people will listen to it
even more. Also, those who are there to enforce the laws have their own personal inter-
pretations of them. For this reason, we never really know if we are dealing with an actual law or
someone’s interpretation of it. The police have to make sure people respect the law, but people
will always try to do what they want anyway. Regarding football, the ambience inside a stadium
is highly virile and masculine. Men in this context are prone to becoming rowdy and insulting each other, and this fuels the debate, as certain conservative people think that women should not be exposed to such behaviour.
The clash of generations
- Military service in Iran is mandatory, they are not civil servants. These guys come from normal
families, they are just like everybody else. So they can easily relate to the urges and desires of
their generation. These soldiers are there to impose restrictions, but they don’t always feel com-
fortable with what they’re doing. And then you have the elderly, with their more traditional views.
The traditionalists represent nearly ten percent of the population, and they have the power.
And there is of course, a clash between these two generations.
Every restriction is the result of many other restrictions. If we look at one limitation in particular, it
prompts us to consider many more. My films work in the same way. I take a relatively simple sub-
ject and try to develop all the issues surrounding it, everything in general which relates to this
one simple subject. This one small problem ends up representing a greater problem on a larger
scale in society. The World Cup is an international event. Whether it be in Iran or Japan, we all
aspire to the same values and that is why we must eradicate oppression. Perhaps our Iranian
girls are also expressing a desire to be part of the global community. But this is not meant to be
the message of my film, the audience is free to take from it whatever they want.
Almost like a documentary
- The film is constructed like a documentary in which I have inserted characters. Are we in a
documentary, or is this fiction? I wanted the action to reflect this ambiguity. So we tried to pre-
serve a unity of time, so that each second that passes the viewer feels he or she is watching a
real event unfolding. The places are real, the event is real, and so are the characters and the
extras. This is why I purposefully chose not to use professional actors, as their presence would
have introduced a notion of falseness.
We ran into many obstacles making this film. It’s not terribly difficult to obtain an authorization to
film a football match in Iran, but if you film girls in the stadium, that’s another story! And then there
was the issue of my reputation as a director, which we knew from the start would be a problem.
We tried to be very discreet and avoid any mention in the press. However, five days before the
end of the shoot, a newspaper published an article stating I was directing a new film. The military
immediately gave orders to interrupt the shoot. We were instructed to bring them our rushes to
be verified. I immediately announced to the official in charge of cinema in Iran that this was out of
the question, and that I would not allow a single soldier during the final days of the shoot. Luckily,
there were only a few scenes left to shoot, inside a minibus, so we just left the military zone and
continued filming sixty kilometres outside of Tehran.
Reactions in Iran
- If a film is selected at the Tehran film festival, it is easier for it to find a distributor in Iran. Every
year, I fill out all the necessary applications for the festival but for the time being my films have
not yet been released in Iran. I have no other choice but to remain optimistic. Perhaps because
there is humour in this film, it stands a chance of being released this year. I think that if the film is
shown, it will re-ignite discussions about letting women into the stadiums. With the World Cup ap-
proaching, the timing is fabulous. Perhaps that’s just a dream, but I continue to hope.
Japan vs. Iran
- There were approximately one hundred and ten thousand people at this game. When it was
over, there was a military helicopter at the stadium exit, surrounded by soldiers so that the crowd couldn’t get near it. The soldiers started to push the crowd and some people were trampled in the crush. Seven people died and many more were injured, but the Iranian press published photos of only six of the dead. The rumours were that the seventh victim was a girl. We have no tangible proof of this, though we did learn that one of the injured parties was a girl disguised as a boy.
Closing song
- The song I used to close the film is a sort of a national hymn. Sixty years ago, when the West-
erners were in Iran, one of our poets witnessed the abuses inflicted on the Iranian people.
He was so pained by what he saw he decided to write a song. The song speaks of our country
and our people, not the States that have governed it. That is why we love it more and more with
each passing day. Many singers have sung it over the years. The version we have chosen was
the one that seemed the most epic to me.
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