Goal Dreams
Sanbar, Maya and Jeffrey Saunders, dirs
2006, Israel/Palestine/Egypt, 84’. English and Arabic. Arab Film Distribution (www.arabfilm.com), $24.99 home / $300 institutional
The Israeli occupation is shown as experienced by the Palestinian national soccer team. Gathered from the Palestinian diaspora, players from Chile, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sweden and the US meet in Egypt to train for a World Cup qualifying match while their teammates from Gaza are delayed indefinitely at the border. The documentary illustrates the effects of the occupation on sport: players unable to train or compete on their home turf, violent deaths of friends in Palestine, and the challenges of creating a unified team from players with vast cultural differences.
You may also be interested in...
Essays on Nile Delta, From Ancient Egypt to Today—Our Book Review
Editor and ancient historian Katherine Blouin asks 18 scholars to address why this crucial region is less visited and studied compared to the rest of Egypt.
The Two Worlds of Saweda Kamara's Besaydoo: Poems—Our Book Review
Yalie Saweda Kamra's third poetry collection about her experience as a child of African immigrants navigating life in the US and Sierra Leone is both intellectually engaging and emotionally resonant.