Hot Docs

In 2007, violence broke out between rival factions in Kenya over a disputed election; over a thousand people died and 600,000 were displaced. A political compromise was brokered but the country teeters on the brink of inter-ethnic violence. In a desperate attempt to create empathy among all Kenyans, a group of Kenyan television producers scrambles to produce a taboo-breaking, ethnically diverse soap opera about a soccer team of men and women that has to confront their prejudices and the vast differences in privilege, class and wealth among tribes. It’s a brilliant idea: Kenyans of every stripe love their football and thousands turn out for the auditions. Documentary and fiction become allies when award-winning filmmaker Patrick Reed cuts from behind-the-scenes shots to finished episodes and the lives of the actors. This is a soap opera that wants to change a nation and stop a civil war—will it succeed? - Lynne Fernie.

Media Coverage

• InsideToronto.com Feature
• torontoist Review