Khartoum Offside

Marwa Zein’s documentary focuses on an effort by Sudanese girls to win official recognition of their soccer team from their national football association and, eventually, from FIFA, the international soccer federation. In a broader sense, however, its subject is the general treatment of women in Sudan, where a patriarchal form of Islam has been enshrined in law. An opening title reports that it is unlawful for women to play football in Sudan—the film later records the decree by the official Islamic Council affirming that position—and that it is also forbidden for women to make films there. (Zein, a Sudanese born abroad who has spent most of her life in Egypt, was twice detained while carrying a camera in Khartoum, so the fact that she continued the project for half a decade is itself a courageous act.) Despite the prohibition, however, a group of young Khartoum women, soccer enthusiasts all, take the field to practice and play, although they must come up with the money to rent the facilities. Two stand out: Sara, an ebullient but sometimes pensive girl who serves as the team’s chief provocateur, and Hinda, wiry, intense, and more of a pragmatist. They describe their family backgrounds and their love of the sport and share moments of joy during outings between their joint efforts to secure financial sponsorship for their squad and lobby the recalcitrant, male-dominated association for funding, pinning their hope for success on upcoming elections within the group. Meanwhile, they scrape together enough cash to rent a playground for their scrimmages, in which some supportive men, a coach, and a couple of players, take part while young girls look on from the sidelines. But there are constant problems: one team member recounts being taken in by authorities for questioning, and as a 'guest' from South Sudan Sara must undergo regular blood tests to maintain her residency permit, a form of harassment. In general, however, the political context is largely sidestepped apart from passing references to the war that led to the partition of the country in 2011. Instead, the emphasis is on impromptu interviews with the girls and musical montages of them on the field or bantering during trips to matches—though there is one striking sequence in which the camera glides artily over one of the players’ naked body. The meandering, often ragged quality of Khartoum Offside can be attributed, however, to the official repression of both the team and Zein’s effort to tell their story, and so is easily forgiven. This portrait of young women struggling to fulfill their dreams in a male-dominated society is often affecting, down to the archival photos accompanying the final credits, which depict female Sudanese sports teams and filmmakers from the country’s more liberal past. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P, H, C. (F. Swietek)