''Khartoum Offside'' (original title:
أوفسايد الخرطوم ''Oufsaiyed Elkhortoum'') is a 2019 Sudanese sports documentary film with a focus on young
women in Sudan
Sudan is a developing nation that faces many challenges in regard to gender inequality. Freedom House gave Sudan the lowest possible ranking among repressive regimes during 2012. South Sudan received a slightly higher rating but it was also rat ...
, produced, written and directed by Sudanese
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
Marwa Zein
Marwa Zein () is a Sudanese film director, scriptwriter and film producer. She is the author of the 2019 documentary, '' Khartoum Offside'', and an advocate of women's rights through her work. She is the founder of ORE Production, a Khartoum-ba ...
.
[ It was globally ]premiered
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
in the 2019 Berlinale
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
Forum in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and is one of the three notable Sudanese films of 2019.
The film begins with the lines: as a central message to the documentary.[
]
Production
It took Zein four years to make this documentary. Due to the generally negative attitude towards women's human rights in Sudan before the Sudanese revolution
The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudane ...
of 2018/19, Zein did not encounter physical assault, but received threats by Sudanese authorities to destroy the cameras. Nevertheless, the film was shot in Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
, Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, and produced by Marwa Zein
Marwa Zein () is a Sudanese film director, scriptwriter and film producer. She is the author of the 2019 documentary, '' Khartoum Offside'', and an advocate of women's rights through her work. She is the founder of ORE Production, a Khartoum-ba ...
for ORE Productions and Hendrik Underbjerg for Stray Dog Productions, Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
and Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.[
]
Storyline and background
With great determination, a group of young women in Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
are out to play professional football, in defiance to an imposed ban by the Sudanese Islamist military government. Despite the National Football Association receiving FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
funds earmarked for women’s teams, the team continues to be marginalized. However, there is a spark of hope, when elections within the association signal a possible overhaul of the entire system. With bravery and courage, they struggle to get an official recognition as the Sudanese women's national football team, faced with strong opposition to their goals.
Captain Sara (Sara Jubara), a young Christian woman, born in northern Sudan, shows entrepreneurial thinking, and is searching for business models to make their dreams a reality, as she assembles a Sudanese team for the FIFA Women's World Cup
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
. Apart from the need to find sponsorship, there are key societal challenges they have to face.
In his article 'Try being a woman playing soccer in Sudan', academic Steve Howard wrote about the film: "The footballers are a mixed group of Sudanese and South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
ese women working for a living as building maintenance workers, high school students, shopkeepers, and the like. Members include women from the Nuba Mountains
The Nuba Mountains ( ar, جبال النوبة), also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages, ...
, a particularly oppressed region near the northern side of the new border. And their struggles include the South Sudanese team members’ efforts to stay in Sudan, where they now require a residency permit after the breakup of the two Sudans in 2011."
Cast
* Elham Balatone as Elham
* Nedal Fadlallah as Henda
* Fatma Gaddal as Gaddal
* Sara Jubara as Captain Sara
* Halah Zakariya as Halah
Release and critical reception
According to ''IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
'', the film was released on February 13, 2019. The following day, it was premiered at the Forum of the Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
,[ and later presented at other festivals, like ]Visions du Réel
Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current na ...
in Switzerland, CPH: DOX Copenhagen, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.
The Festival includes film sc ...
and IDFA Amsterdam. It was also shown at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...
on April 26, 2019. The film was screened online via Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
alongside another feminist Afro-Arab film, ''The Bleaching Syndrome'' (2020), in Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
with English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
subtitles, by Dardishi on October 24, 2020. In Khartoum, it was first shown at the opening of the Sudan Independent Film Festival in January 2020.
Immediately after its premiere in Berlin, film critic Vladan Petković called it a ''"lively, touching and, at times, poetic documentary"'' and Joseph Fahim wrote in his review on the Berlinale 2019: ''"Strong-willed, refreshingly liberated and ferociously independent, Zein’s footballers defy the mainstream perceptions of Sudanese women."''
On the occasion of its screening at the New York African Film Festival
African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF) is a non-profit cultural organization that presents an annual film festival and year-round community programs. Based in New York City, the organization was founded in 1990. The organization is dedicated to promot ...
in December 2020, an interview about the making of the documentary between Marwa Zein and Sudanese-American filmmaker Sarra Idriss was published on YouTube. In this interview, Zein explained the wider scope of her documentary: ''"I wanted to tackle many aspects about being Sudanese...Are we Arabs or not? Are we still classified based on the colour of our skin, the last name of our family? – Sexuality, the political situation, inequality of women and men, religion – all of this, I wanted to tell a story about."''
Accolades
See also
* Cinema of Sudan
Cinema of Sudan refers to both the history and present of the making or screening of films in cinemas or film festivals, as well as to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture of the Sudan and its history from the late nineteent ...
* Women's Football Association
The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to Th ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Khartoum Offside official trailer
Khartoum Offside (2019)
on IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Khartoum Offside
on Filmotor
Khartoum Offside
on IDFA
Khartoum Offside
on Afridocs
Khartoum Offside
on Act. Human Right Film Festival
Khartoum Offside
on Malmo Arab Film Festival
Khartoum Offside
on Never Again Coalition
Khartoum Offside
on Watchdocs
Khartoum Offside
on Cineuropa
Khartoum Offside
on Karama Festival
Khartoum Offside (2019)
on Elcinema
Khartoum Offside
on Eye for Film
Sudanese documentary films
2019 films
2019 documentary films
2010s Arabic-language films
Films set in Sudan