Review of Offside (2015) by Ravindra C — 06 May 2007

[font=Century Gothic]In Iran, women are forbidden from attending sporting events because of the possibility of them being corrupted by the men's swearing.(In my experience, it is the other way around.)[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]Directed by Jafar Panahi, "Offside" was filmed at the Iran-Bahrain 2005 World Cup qualifier where a young woman, not well disguised, tries to get inside the stadium but is stopped by soldiers and is detained along with a handful of other women who tried to gain entry. The soldiers clearly do not want to be there and take pity on their prisoners, occasionally giving updates on the game. [/font].

[font=Century Gothic]"Offside" is a truly wonderful movie that somehow manages to be wildly entertaining about a very serious subject - the exclusion of women from Iranian society, focusing on sports which have the power to bring the entire country together. But the country cannot be truly whole unless women are allowed to participate fully. So, it should not be surprising that the women who are very knowledgeable about soccer risk much to show their support for their national team.[/font].

[font=Century Gothic]And there is graffiti in Iran?[/font].