A new film looks at the incredible story of an Israeli football team based in the mostly Arab town of Sakhnin.
There are over 1.4 million Arabs who are citizens of Israel, facing the challenge of living in a Jewish state while maintaining their Arabic heritage.
In Israel, football is king, and Bnei Sakhnin became the first team from an Arab town to win the prestigious Israeli Cup and represent Israel in European competition.
Fielding Arab, Jewish and foreign-born players, owned by an Arab, and coached by a Jew, Bnei Sakhnin’s success represents a symbol of coexistence, a potential bridge between Arabs and Jews in Israel.
Director Christopher Browne spoke about the team and the film.
Were there any Israeli or Arab people who didn’t approve of the story you were telling?
One of the nice things about working in Israel is people are fairly accustomed to having camera crews around. For most of the time we were shooting, it wasn’t even clear to us exactly what story we were telling, so no one disapproved of the story while we were in Israel shooting the movie.
Now that the movie is finished, I’m fairly confident that we didn’t make the first movie about Arabs and Jews in Israel that nobody has a problem with.
The reasons are as varied as the viewpoints in Israel, but I know when we showed the movie in Sakhnin some people were disappointed that we didn’t address some of their issues and grievances as directly as they would have liked.
For football fans, what do you think the film shows with regards to the passion for the sport? And did you find that the fandom across the country superseded race and/or religion?
Football clubs and their rivalries are rooted in the cultural and political identities of their fans. As much as Yankees and Red Sox fans loathe each other, New Yorkers and Bostonians haven’t yet gone to war.
I think there is more at stake, in terms of pride and identity during a Rangers Celtic match, or when Bnei Sakhnin plays Beitar Jerusalem, where rivalries feed off conflicts that precede the existence of Boston and New York by several centuries.
What Israeli football lacks in skill compared to European leagues, it makes up for in the intensity of the identity politics that feed the rivalries.
Unfortunately football fans don’t always get on board with the agenda that team management, or media people, or left wing political groups design for them.
In a place like Israel where there is a degree of underlying tension in society, soccer games are usually a safe place for the most agitated members of society to blow off steam, but there are always risks.
For us, I hope their passion illustrates to people with only a passing interest in the game, why football matters, so deeply, to so many people around the world.
Where do you think this film fits into that the larger context of the political upheaval and conflict in the Middle East?
I think our story probably benefits more from being set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most complicated conflicts, then the movie itself will benefit anyone affected by the conflict.
The conflict in the Middle East is so vast and complicated, that beyond hopefully entertaining people, the potentially useful thing the film might do is simply remind people about the Arab minority who are citizens of Israel.
Their situation is a complicated one, but their problems often get lost beneath larger meta narratives of the Middle East conflict.
Optimists in Israel often talk about how the Arab minority in Israel might serve as bridge between Israel and the broader Arab world. Now that the team is not in the news so much, perhaps the movie can help at least re-ignite that conversation.
You can see a trailer for the film below, and find out more about the film at www.afterthecup.com
