Dir. Jafar Panahi, 2006, 93 minutes

Offside follows a group of teenage girls determined to see the Iranian national soccer team play Bahrain in a crucial qualifying match leading up to the 2006 World Cup. Undaunted by a government decree that forbids women from attending the game, they disguise themselves as boys to gain access to Azadi Stadium in Tehran. After being arrested, the girls (and the soldiers guarding them) do all they can to experience the game. Showing only glimpses of the match itself, Panahi instead focuses on the complex dimensions of spectatorship, presenting a nuanced social critique while also capturing the exhilaration of sports fandom. Banned in Iran, Offside won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.

Co-sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies Program and the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program