Offside (2006)
(Afsaid, Jafar Panahi, Iran 2006, 93 min., 35mm)
His final feature film before his arrest in 2010, director Jafar Panahi turned his lens to the issue of soccer matches in Iran. After the Iranian revolution, gender segregation became law, and women were not allowed to attend men’s sporting events, despite the fact that women had been a large part of their fanbase. Offside follows several young women as they don men’s clothing in an effort to gain entrance to a World Cup qualifying match. Filmed during an actual match, and almost in real time, the film examines the sociological effects of the restrictions through sport.
Introduction by and post-screening Q&A with Dan LaTourette, lecturer at the School of Film and Animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology.