''Africa United'' is a 2005 Icelandic documentary film directed by Ólaf de Fleur Jóhannesson. The original musical score is by

Barði Jóhannsson Barði Jóhannsson (born 10 September 1975) is an Icelandic musician, composer, writer, TV show host (of the surrealist Icelandic TV show ''Konfekt''), clothing designer and film director. He is mostly known for his work with the groups Bang Ga ...

. The film explores the life of Zakaria Anbari who moves to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in search of fortune. The film premiered at the 2005

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

. It won the Documentary of the Year at the 2005

Edda Awards The Edda Award is an accolade bestowed annually by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy, and is the most prominent film and television award in Iceland, awarded annually in February. The ''Edda'' has awarded for outstanding work in various ca ...

. It also received nominations for Director of the Year and Script of the Year at the 2005

. ''Africa United'' was filmed in Iceland, England, Morocco and Serbia.

Plot

Zakaria Anbari (Zico) has been playing football all his life. He came to

from

to seek his fortune. He starts his own business but it fails to take off after ten years, and Zico goes bankrupt and unable to find work. Left desperate and depressed, Zico decides to start an amateur football team, Africa United, and take them into the semi-professional third division. Initially, Africa United is asked to play in the out-of-division category by the Icelandic Football Association, but they were accepted into the third division after ten years. Zico calls upon immigrants from all-over

, players from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

and

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

to form the team, Africa United. The players migrated to Iceland for various reasons, such as escaping war or to find employment. The team starts out by looking for sponsors to support them. They faced multiple rejections from companies, and their final hope is with

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

. The team creates a mock-up of an advertisement as a sponsorship pitch to

, which impresses the management and finally secures a sponsorship for Africa United. The team encounters many setbacks throughout the season. By mid-season, the team has lost all their games thus far. Furthermore, the team constantly has strong arguments with each other, causing one of their best players, Zlatko (

Zlatko Krickic Zlatko ( sr-Cyrl, Златко, ) is a South Slavic masculine given name. The name is derived from the word ''zlato'' meaning gold with hypocoristic suffix ''-ko'' common in South Slavic languages. Zlatko is a given name. Notable people with the na ...

) to leave the team and return home to

to get married. Faced with the multiple setbacks, Zico decides to head to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to seek the advice from the

Charlton Athletic Football Club Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

manager,

Alan Curbishley Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...

. With the advice from Alan, Zico comes back to

with new ideas of leading the team and approaching his life goals. The team is finally able to cooperate with one another, and Zlatko is persuaded by Zico to return to the team. After much trials and tribulations, the team finally achieves their first win in their last game of the season.

References

External links

* * *
Africa United
��’ at Icelandiccinema.com: Trailer, interviews, and pictures 2005 films Icelandic documentary films 2000s Icelandic-language films 2005 multilingual films Films directed by Olaf de Fleur Documentary films about association football Football in Iceland 2000s English-language films Icelandic multilingual films {{sport-documentary-film-stub