Tehran, Nima Afshar Naderi : As soccer World Cup 2006 in Germany gets closer, Iran's society finds newer ways to approach it. At first, some European leaders, as well as the United States, informed about the possibility of the absence of Iran's national soccer team in this championship because of its atomic energy case, which now seems to be out of question, especially after the poll that C.N.N had held online on its website, and its lack of vote.



Now, for the very first time, an Iranian movie, with the very same theme, is getting ready to be in theaters.

'Offside' by Ja'far Panahi, narrates a story about some girls, who dress like boys, to be able to watch the match between Iran and Bahrain, which lead Iran to World Cup 2006, live and in the stadium. However, because of the stadium guardians, they cannot watch the game, although they are present and in the stadium.

Ja'far Panahi, whose movies (such as "The Mirror" and "The Circle") are not permitted to be shown in Iran, hopes for "Offside" to be in Iranian theater. The movie was displayed first in Iran's fadjr Film Festival. Panahi hopes for the movie to be in theaters before the World Cup 2006.
"I am sure this movie can be a real fillip in order for women to be permitted to attend the stadiums and watch their favorite matches", Panahi said in Offside's media conference. "The Circle" and "The Red Gold", Panahi's last two films, have been the winners of Venice and Cannes film festivals. The movie ends with the scene of the girls joining the happy crowd in Vanak Sq., in Tehran, listening to joyful music and celebrating the qualification of their national team for the World Cup 2006.
A real success is forecasted for the movie, in case of being permitted to be played in theaters.
"In case the movie does not get the permission to be in theaters, I might suffer from a great financial loss," Panahi says, "but I am an independent film maker, and do not make movies with an expiration date".
"Men at Work", by Mani Haghighi, though, has a straighter story, about the trial of few people to move away a huge stone, which seems very instable. Moving the stone is synchronized with Iran's team winning Japan. Like "Offside", "Men at Work" ends with Iran's national anthem, in order to be a symbol of a national effort to win in Iran, in case being in theaters during World Cup 2006.

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Books and Shelves - 2006-2-13