One of the finest football films ever made — even though you don’t see a single ball being kicked. Yet Jafar Panahi’s sublime satire also provides a fascinating insight into juvenile attitudes to the Islamic constrictions imposed by the Iranian government. Following a clutch of disguised female fans who are corralled into a pen for trying to get into the men-only World Cup qualifier against Bahrain, the action subtly ridicules gender clichés while exploring town-and-country rivalries and the unifying power of sport.
The amateur ensemble is uniformly excellent, although Safdar Samandar stands out as the farmboy soldier whose recognition of the inequity of such institutionalised chauvinism coincides with an outpouring of national pride. Quite wonderful.