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.
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