An Iranian movie about female soccer fans? And a comedy, to boot? It may sound unlikely, but director Jafar Panahi pulls off a smart and savvy look at the roles of soccer and women in Iranian society. His six fearless females try to defy the country’s all-male rule and sneak into Iran’s crucial 2006 World Cup qualification match against Bahrain (Panahi somehow managed to film at the game in question). Many of the sequences are inspired, especially when you bear in mind that the cast was composed of amateurs. And while we don’t actually ever see a ball being kicked, Offside still manages to achieve its goals: it won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival — Berlin being, ironically, the city that played host to the 2006 World Cup final.
