Even though the movie was released in 2006, it is still one of the best soccer movies in 2022. The film revolves around gender segregation and soccer, whereby a group of Iranian girls is not allowed into the stadium to watch the game they cherish.
Like Mustang, Offside is about several women intent on seeing their team play live. But the catch is Iran didn’t allow women to attend the sporting event when their national team played Japan in 2005.
Women have to sneak into the stadium dressed as men and when they’re caught they are held and guarded in the stadium. It is this group of apprehended women that Jafar Panahi’s film follows.
The director based the film on his own daughter’s experience trying to see a game and had to secretly film the movie because he hadn’t been approved to make it.
The film’s interrogation of the treatment of women in Iran was controversial, as Panahi’s films often are.
