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FILMMAKERS TAKE SOCCER DOCUMENTARY HOME. SCREENING FOR FILM’S SUBJECTS

When I first met Roger Bennett, he was standing in front of the East side Manhattan cinema where the film he created with Director Christopher Browne and fellow producers Alexander Browne and Michael Cohen, Sons of Sakhnin United, was about to be screened by the open-minded if a bit elitist Tribeca Film Festival patrons. Roger nor his Arsenal-tattooed colleague Cohen waiting with him seemed to be nervous. This wasn’t the world premiere, and the euphoria of finishing the film, getting it into the festival, and receiving rave reviews was all the satisfaction they needed.

Taking the film to Jerusalem, however, was a different story. A makeshift screening in a coffee house in Sahknin, complete with mayor, mullah, and Abbas Suan in attendance would prove even more nerve-racking.

Roger was kind enough to share his once in a lifetime experience with TIAS. And what with England and Israel facing off in a Euro 2008 qualifier on Saturday, there is no more perfect time to reflect on the realities of soccer in Israel.

The filmmaker’s adventure in screening is after the jump…

Homeward Bound

After spending three years making our documentary following the fate B’Nei Sakhnin, the Arab team that became champions of Israel. we were overwhelmed by the response of the audience when we premiered the film at Tribeca. All of the screenings were sold out – and the honest truth is, most felt like football matches rather than film screenings with a large number of audience members coming in soccer shirts (Arsenal regrettably) and living and dying with every goal or mis-kick. The Q & A at the end of the screenings were always long and entertaining, but the one question that was asked the most, was one we could not answer. “What did they think about the film in Israel?” Truth was, we had finished editing the film on the eve of the festival and had not had a chance to show it to anyone there yet.

That changed when we were selected for the Jerusalem International Film festival this summer. We would have the opportunity to take our film “home” and play it before an audience of Israelis. This would be the ultimate test. At Tribeca, the film had played as a kind of Mighty Ducks tale, but in Jerusalem, we would be playing it for an audience who were all too familiar with both the story and the political subtexts. This was the equivalent of an American making a documentary about cricket which could be perfectly fine for an American audience but would be laughed out of town if it was screened in London. I had once watched the Simpsons in Israel with a mixed crown of Americans and Israelis who proceeded to laugh at entirely different parts of the show. Would our film suffer a similar fate? Sports Illustrated’s pick of the festival in New York. A debacle in Israel. We bought out plane tickets and set off to discover how the movie would stand up to that level of scrutiny

Whatever trepidation we harbored around the Jerusalem screening doubled when we were invited to screen the movie of friends and family in Sakhnin itself. Team owner Mazen Ghanaim wanted to see the film, and so we hastily arranged to screen it in a local coffee shop on a flat screen television, the closest thing the town has to a cinema. The team had experienced mixed fortunes since we had started to follow them. Our original hope was to follow an inspirational Jackie Robinson-esque moment in which sports empowered change. But the team had wilted under the world’s spotlight, and although they had recently been promoted back into the premier league, financial trouble lingered with threats of relegation for accounting irregularities. As we drove up from Tel Aviv into the mountains of the Galilee towards Sakhnin, our car was silent as we contemplated the reception we would receive.

Abbas Suan front and center for the Sakhnin screening

The coffee bar began to fill up around screening time. Even as the bar began to pack out, the room stayed silent. This was an audience apprehensive to see how they were perceived by the outside world. Mazen was there. Abbas Suan, the Israeli midfielder who stars in the movie but who had shocked the team by leaving for Maccabi Haifa (the equivalent of Arsenal) strolled in. The mayor, accompanied by the Mullah, took seats. Soon the bar was standing room only, and kids packed the street outside pushing their noses against the glass to catch a glimpse of the 32” screen. Before the screening, politicians made several long speeches addressing the financial status and fate of the team, which made the environment a little more unnerving.

And then we pressed play.

At Tribeca – the movie was a participatory experience one for the audience – they laughed when the team won and railed against the referee’s injustice when they lost. In Sakhnin, the crowd barely moved and made no sound. They knew the story all too well having lived through it. There was no back patting amongst the audience, even when one of the individuals in the room made a joke on screen. The town had become exhausted by the attention, the promise of change had not become real, and the team had become a battleground for local politicians and accusations and counter accusations of graft, corruption, and mismanagement. Sitting at the back of the room, the experience felt like playing a wedding video for a couple on the brink of divorce. When the movie ended, the audience erupted in applause which was a massive relief, but most of the audience were eager to express a relief that the story was not told in an unflattering fashion.

After the Sakhnin experience, Jerusalem was an anti-climax. In contrast to the Sakhnin experience, the audience turned into the humor of the movie, laughing from start to finish like my grandfather watching Benny Hill.

two interesting end notes:

Abas Suan, the star midfielder, brilliant gent, and proven international would love a move to a MLS team. For PR value alone it is well worth it. He is like David Beckham but Arab and better looking. He’s 31 years old.

American in Israel - Leonard Krupnik of B’nei Sakhnin

And… Sakhnin now have an American playing for them – a great guy - Leonard Krupnik. Born in Ukraine, but raised in San Francisco, Krupnik was at one time on the Metrostars pay roll. If he keeps a season long diary, there is a great book to be written.

[editor’s note: look for more on and from Leonard Krupnik in the coming weeks here at This Is American Soccer]