Projects in genres: Sport

Synopsis

Twelve year-old Fazilla deals daily with the hardships of selling chewing gum on the streets and the discrimination Afghan girls face. However, when she is skateboarding, she forgets all her problems.

Murza is a 16 year-old who has known nothing but a life of war. But through participation in the Skateistan project, he has been able to give up working at a car wash and now has high hopes for both himself and his country's future. 

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul is a beautiful, verite style, 16mm film about the lives of 2 young skateboarders from Afghanistan. The Skateistan project is Afghanistan's first co-educational skateboarding school. In a country with innumerable problems, Skateistan represents an oasis where children can be children and build the kinds of cross-cultural relationships that Afghanistan needs for future stability. Intimate and challenging in its portrayal of children's stories and stunningly shot, Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul is a touching ray of light from a country only ever in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Synopsis

In March 2010, the South African city of Durban was the host of the first ever Street Child Football World Cup where teams from all over the world came to compete.
As the country geared up for the biggest sporting event known to man, focusing their attention on big business and tourism we turned our lens towards those that are the most vulnerable and overlooked.

Street Kids United follows the South African team as they prepare and compete in the competition. These children want something better for themselves, and each other, and this tournament could be the first step towards getting that.

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The personalities of two women pensioners come into focus as they team up for a challenge: Rowing the most difficult boat ever devised: The Pair.

Synopsis

United is based on the true story of Manchester United's legendary Busby Babes, the youngest side ever to win the Football League, the 1958 Munich Air Crash that claimed eight of the their number and the extraordinary spirit of a city that rebuilt the team in the wake of the disaster.

The film draws on first-hand interviews with the survivors and their families to tell the inspirational story of a team and community overcoming terrible tragedy.

Synopsis

At three, Budhia Singh had already run six 13-mile half-marathons. Born into the slums of Bhubaneswar in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Budhia's mother sold him to a peddler for 800 rupees. Not long after Biranchi Das, a judo teacher who also runs an orphanage, bought him back, and soon discovers Budhia's talent for running. But when Biranchi has the four year old Budhia run 42 miles, the debate begins: is he providing Budhia with a rare opportunity, or is he exploiting a boy too young to know what he really wants.

When the government gets involved the case becomes a political football, and rumours of vast sums of money attract gangsters eager to drive a wedge between Biranchi and Budhia. What starts out as a real Slumdog Millionaire turns into a the stuff of film noir, a tale of dreams, greed, and envy, with a child at its centre.

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Charting the glorious supremacy of the West Indies cricket team throughout the late 70s and 80s, this film describes how the bat and ball was more effective than gunfire in the battle against racial injustice and the struggle for black rights. It is told by the men who were there - such as Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Clive Lloyd.

Fire in Babylon boasts dynamic archive, classic music by the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Gregory Issacs and Burning Spear, this is a story that celebrates the emancipation of a people through the sport of cricket.

Synopsis

An engaging film documentary in the style of 'What the Bleep Do We Know', 'Sicko' and 'SuperSize Me' which follows writer/producer Paul Duddridge as he attempts to host his own 'mini Olympics' where teams are split by race rather than nationality. It's all quite harmless and silly but exposes some uncomfortable questions, misconceptions and prejudices that most of us hold.

Experts discuss: What race really is, how many races there are, how they evolved, the differences between them.

Filmed on location in California, Arizona, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio and the UK - A Film About Races is an irreverent exploration of the common myths and misconceptions about race - definitely not a film about racism.

Synopsis

Little Matador  is a feature length documentary about children bullfighters in Mexico. Kids as young as eight are trained to kill bulls ten times their weight. The film follows three children who are fighting not just the bull but their own demons;

Michelito is ten. The adored child of a matador Dad, Michelito has killed over two hundred bulls. ‘Picasso was born to paint, Mozart to make music – and Michelito to be a matador,’ says Dad. Can Michelito fulfil his father’s dream to become the youngest matador in history?

Joel is nine. Neglected by his mum and step-father, he finds paternal love in the ring. Matador Ismael becomes Joel’s surrogate father and guardian angel. But if Ismael moves to Spain for his own career, what will happen to Joel?

Andrea is twelve. She started bullfighting when her father moved to America. Andrea has disowned her dad – who has found a new woman - and vows to save her mum from poverty by becoming a superstar bullfighter. But will Andrea ever get over her terrible nerves every time she enters the ring?

Little Matador is an extraordinary testimony to the lengths these kids will go to realise their dream.

Synopsis

Abiyot runs for money, every weekend at a different race. He left Ethiopia to try and relaunch his running career in the US.

With every aspect of his daily routine centered on his training, his footsteps not only dictate the rhythm of his life, but also become the pervasive rhythm of the film.

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The Mountain Within provides a powerful insight into the emotional and physical journeys of a group of seven adults with disabilities as they take on one of the most feared and revered mountains - Mount Kilimanjaro. In doing so, they show us that at the end of the day we all face the same challenges and it is often our hearts and minds rather than our bodies that limit us.

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In September 2007, 16 of the world's best b-boys battle one on one in a disused power station in the heart of Soweto, South Africa, to determine who will be the next world champion. Turn it Loose is a film about this competition.

Through the eyes of six competitors we leave behind any preconceived notions of what breakdance used to represent, and as the film digs deeper into their lives, we discover an extraordinary form of non-contact combat that has evolved over 30 years to become a truly 21st century global phenomenon, stretching the limits of physical capability and pushing dance itself to astonishing new heights.

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Waveriders is the previously untold story of the unlikely Irish roots of the worldwide surfing phenomenon and today's pioneers of Irish big wave surfing.