The ‘Hand of God’, Gazza’s tears, the fairy-tale of ’92, Tardelli’s emotion, Dutch dismay, Bebeto’s baby, Escobar’s tragedy, Roger’s dance, Panenka’s penalty, battered Battiston, Rijkaard’s spittle and the images of Pele at the end of the 1958 and 70 World Cup finals.
There seems to be no end to the suspense and raw emotion evoked by the game of football.
And now the ball – or camera if you will – is set to roll on Denmark’s first film festival dedicated solely to football: the Shoot! Copenhagen Football Festival.
“We are a lot of people out there who love football because it’s fun and entertaining to play,” said Jan Sørensen, the head of Boldklubben Skjold football club, who is one of the drivers behind the festival.
“But football is much more than that. It has a universal language that works despite one’s background, be it Vestegnen or Østerbro, or Argentina, Cameroon or Iceland, football binds us together. So football has a responsibility and all us football fans benefit from being reminded of that – and so film and debate about football is very relevant.”
READ MORE: New running festival coming to Copenhagen
Four days of football
Taking place from November 16-19, the festival kicks off with a screening of Anthony Wonke’s (‘Senna’, ‘Amy’) ‘Ronaldo’ at Park Bio at 16:00.
Over the course of the four days, over 20 films about football will be shown at Copenhagen cinemas, including ‘Becoming Zlatan’, ‘Club Frontera’ and ‘Goals for girls’.
Even happier than the hosts?
Chris Cashman, the San Diego-based director of ‘Club Frontera’, cannot wait to show off his new film in Copenhagen, particularly as he contends that it’s set in “one of the happiest places on Earth”.
“We are very happy to show our feature film ‘Club Frontera’ in Copenhagen at this year’s Shoot! Film Festival,” he told CPH POST.
“It is great to share this story of the Tijuana Xolos soccer team and what the city of Tijuana is really like with people on the other side of the world.”
