Offside
Sat 20 JanIranians are football-crazed but half of them—women—are banned from the stadiums. To cheer for their national team, those with means can travel abroad, but there is always another way for those creative and daring enough. Shot during the actual game between Iran and Bahrain to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, this fictional tale with a documentary touch focuses on several young women’s comical attempts to sneak into Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The humorous tricks they deploy are in sharp contrast to the very real repression they suffer. Director Jafar Panahi (No Bears, Taxi Tehran), never one to shy away from provocative subjects, won the Berlin International Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize for this sharp-witted film.
Special Screening
This screening will be followed by a free drawing workshop and performances (see details below). It also includes short film Beach Flags.
More about Beach Flags
13 mins | FRA | 2014 | dir. Sarah Saidan | in French with EN subs
Vida is a young Iranian lifeguard. Popular on her team, she is determined to fight to be the one to participate in an international competition in Australia. However, when Sareh who is as fast and talented as her, joins the team, Vida will have to face an unexpected situation.
Drawing Workshop
The drawing session is facilitated by Iranian artist Fatima Vahabi, one of the RAW collective of female refugee artists supported by our charity partner Karmabank. Through RAW, Karmabank provides microgrants, education and support to help artists fleeing war, discrimination and abuse reestablish their practice. Vahabi presented paintings at the Saatchi Gallery during Frieze Week.
The programme includes performances by Ziba Karbassi, the Iranian Poet and a former director of PEN International Relations and chair of Exiled Writers Ink, and songs performed by Nouf, a young fresh voice from the new Saudi Diaspora. Nouf has come to the UK seeking asylum from stifling guardianship laws and controls on female liberties in her homeland.
The programme is presented by Ayuna Berbidaeva, para triathlete, contemporary dancer & Sports & Performance Ambassador for Karmabank.
See also