Offside

This award-winning film tells the funny and moving story of a group of Iranian girls who are arrested for disguising themselves as men to attend a males-only soccer match. Sima Mobarak Shahi, Safar Samandar, Shayesteh Irani, M. Kheyrabadi. Directed by Jafar Panahi., Jafar Panahi directs this charming, witty drama that follows the fortunes of an unnamed teenage Iranian football fan, played by Ayda Sadeqi. She tries to sneak into Iran’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain, but women are banned from watching football and her disguise is penetrated. Placed in a corral with other women who tried to sneak in, where they are guarded by young conscript soldiers, the film plays out during the duration of the match, as the women taunt the soldiers about the rules that exclude them, while trying to follow the game by the crowd’s noise. Shot on digital video cameras with a non-professional cast, the film is both challenging and uplifting, with one sequence, where one of the women must be escorted to the men’s toilet, wonderfully absurd., Jafar Panahi (Crimson Gold and The Circle) directs this charming, witty film that follows the fortunes of an unnamed teenage Iranian football fan, played by Ayda Sadeqi. She tries to sneak into Iran’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain but women are banned from watching football and her disguise is penetrated. Placed in a corral with other women who tried to sneak in where they are guarded by young conscript soldiers, the films plays out during the duration of the match, as the women taunt the soldiers about the rules that exclude them while trying to follow the game by the crowd’s noise. Shot on digital video cameras with a non- professional cast, the film is both challenging and uplifting, with one sequence, where one of the women must be escorted to the men’s toilet, wonderfully absurd., A handful of women attempt various ways of sneaking into a football match between their national Iranian side and Bahrain, despite their presence being prohibited by law., In Iran, women are officially banned from men’s sporting events. In June 2005, the Iranian national soccer team have a crucial World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in the Azadi Stadium, Tehran. A group of football-loving Iranian girls decide to disguise themselves as boys in an attempt to attend the game., A group of Iranian girls are arrested for posing as men to attend a males-only soccer match., A handful of girls struggle to make their way into the man’s world of an Iranian soccer stadium in this comedy from writer and director Jafar Panahi. World Cup season is just around the corner, and Iran’s team is playing a game against Bahrain that will determine who will be competing in soccer’s greatest tournament. Nearly everyone in Tehran seems to be abuzz with excitement over the game, through officially soccer in Iran is quite literally for men only — no women are allowed inside the stadium, and women’s interest in the game is severely frowned upon. But that doesn’t stop a number of girls from all over the city from trying to crash the game dressed up as boys; while some succeed, others are unable to fool security, and are sent to a holding bullpen in the stadium where they can hear the cheers of the crowd but can’t see the game. One of the policemen watching over the girls (who range from rowdy tomboys to quiet and bookish types) is sympathetic and keeps them updated on the score and key plays, while another is a petty bureaucrat who suffers the mockery of his “prisoners.” Offside received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.