Between human fragility and the search for identity, the Thinking Football Film Festival moves audiences with ‘Muy lejos’
Yesterday, Friday, October 10, the Thinking Football Film Festival continued its 13th edition with the screening of Muy lejos (Molt lluny), a Spanish drama directed by Gerard Oms and starring Mario Casas, David Verdaguer, and Ilyass El Ouahdani. The film tells the story of Sergio, a young man who, after suffering a panic attack before a flight back to Barcelona from Utrecht, decides to stay in the Netherlands, facing precarious conditions, racism, and the search for his own identity. The film has received several awards, including the Silver Biznaga from the Critics’ Jury and the Silver Biznaga for Best Actor for Mario Casas at the Málaga Film Festival.
Following the screening of his debut feature, Gerard Oms took part in a post-film discussion addressing the themes explored in the movie. During the talk, Oms highlighted “the close relationship between identity and privilege” and described ‘Muy lejos’ as “a story about acceptance and about approaching others with fewer prejudices.”
Today at 6:00 p.m. (CEST): ‘One, Two, Three, Viva Algeria!’ and three short films
Today, Saturday, October 11, the Sala BBK in Bilbao offers a diverse and moving line-up. The day begins at 6:00 p.m. (CEST) with ‘One, Two, Three, Viva Algeria!’, a documentary that traces the history of the emblematic slogan born with the FLN Algerian football team -from the War of Independence to the 2010 World Cup- and its evolution as a symbol of social change in 2019.
At 8:00 p.m. (CEST), three short films will be screened: ‘Girls Move Mountains’, which tells the story of Karishma, a young Wakhi woman leading a women’s football tournament high in the Karakoram Mountains, challenging patriarchal norms and promoting gender equality with the guidance of her grandmother; ‘My Very Own Footballer!’, which follows Sylvie and Karim, two co-workers who decide to invest their savings from working at the Bellevue Hotel to fulfill Sylvie’s dream of signing a national football player; and ‘Cómo los cosacos jugaron al fútbol’, a 1970s Ukrainian animation featuring the humorous, wordless adventures of three Cossacks—a classic of Soviet animation and a symbol of Ukrainian popular culture.
After the screenings, Honey Thaljieh, 125th anniversary ambassador, footballer, and Palestinian activist, will take part in the discussion.
Admission to the Sala BBK screenings is free, though advance booking is required. As in previous years, many sessions are already sold out, but you can still check the schedule and ticket availability here.
