- courtesy of PELADA
- Gwendolyn Oxenham, co-star of the documentary PELADA, in Uyuni, Bolivia
We’re just three weeks away from the start of a little soccer competition in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup begins June 11, and to mark the month-long occasion, the Independent Weekly and the Carolina RailHawks will partner to sponsor a series of soccer-themed films.
The schedule includes such classics as Bend it Like Beckham and Victory, and the venues include the Galaxy Cinema in Cary, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, the Lumina Theatre in Chapel Hill and The Pinhook bar in Durham. Additionally, area art house movie theaters will show a new film starring 1990s soccer star Eric Cantona, while two documentaries will also be screened.
The Carolina RailHawks are joining the Indy in this enterprise, and head coach Martin Rennie is expected to make an appearance before a screening of Looking for Eric, a new film that opens in local art houses June 11. This critically acclaimed Ken Loach comedy features French superstar Eric Cantona, who played for Manchester United in the 1990s, as a sort of imaginary friend/life coach to a middle-aged postal worker in Manchester.
As it happens, Rennie counts himself among the fans of the famously quirky—and gifted—player. “Eric Cantona is one of my all-time favorite players,” Rennie tells us. “I look forward to discussing the movie and Cantona with like-minded soccer fans.”
For the growing numbers of soccer fans in this country, the countdown to the game on June 12 between the U.S. and England began months ago. Meanwhile, more casual fans are now picking up on the buzz. For the latter, the FIFA World Cup can be a phenomenon not unlike the Olympics, which quadrennially turns us into fans of such sports as curling and gymnastics. But with a lineup of films throughout the Triangle in early June, from documentaries and classics to new and recent feature films, the Independent hopes to spread understanding and appreciation for the world’s most popular game, and create an opportunity for existing and new fans alike to join in the fun.
We’ll have more information in the next couple of weeks, but the following events are scheduled and nailed down. We look forward to seeing you.
Below is our official announcement, and here is the RailHawks announcement.
The whole world will be watching soccer as the FIFA World Cup gets underway beginning June 12. To commemorate the quadrennial tournament of the beautiful game, as well as enhance its regular coverage of professional soccer, the Independent Weekly is teaming up with the Carolina RailHawks and area partners to present films around the Triangle.
The schedule includes such classics as Bend it Like Beckham and Victory, and the venues include the Galaxy Cinema in Cary, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, the Lumina Theatre in Chapel Hill and The Pinhook bar in Durham. Additionally, area art house movie theaters will show a new film starring 1990s soccer star Eric Cantona, while two documentaries will also be screened.
The Independent Weekly is the leading source of coverage of professional soccer in the Triangle, having followed the Cary-based RailHawks from its first season in 2007, and continuing its game-by-game analysis on Triangle Offense, the Indy’s sports blog.
In addition to the films, the Indy’s writers will blog the World Cup at Triangle Offense. Also, look for a preview in the June 9 newsstand issue.
“As soccer continues to gain popularity in the United States, people are looking for outlets to share in the passion and excitement of the world’s biggest international sporting competition,” Fellerath says. “Soccer is the world’s game, and the Independent is proud to join with the Carolina RailHawks in providing opportunities for fans and newcomers alike to celebrate the occasion.”
The schedule follows.
Monday, June 7
PELADA, the critically acclaimed hit from this year’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival that tells the story of four young Americans who travel the world in search of a beautiful pickup game.
@ The Pinhook
117 W. Main St.
Durham
8 p.m. Free.
Wednesday June 9
Winning Isn’t Everything, a film from UNC communications professor Hap Kindem that examines the extraordinary success of Anson Dorrance and his Tar Heels women’s soccer program. Kindem and UNC assistant women’s soccer coach Bill Palladino will appear. (7 p.m.)
Victory—Soccer emerged in America in the 1970s. Pele came to play for the New York Cosmos (of the original North American Soccer League) n 1975, and in 1981 he joined fellow soccer superstar Franz Beckenbauer plus actors Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Max von Sydow in this John Huston-directed drama about a World War II prison camp and a soccer game their between Allied inmates and their Nazi captors. (8:30 p.m.)
@ Galaxy Cinema
770 Cary Towne Blvd
Cary
$5
Thursday June 10
Bend It Like Beckham— When this youth soccer classic was released in 2003, David Beckham was at the peak of his superstardom. Alas, Becks was seriously injured earlier this season, so he’ll be on the sidelines this summer as an all-purpose ambassador for the English national team. Meanwhile, the little-known teenage star of Bend It Like Beckham, Keira Knightley, has become an A-list actress.
@Lumina Theatre
620 Market St.
Southern Village, Chapel Hill.
On the lawn at dusk. $4.
Beginning June 11:
Looking for Eric—A new comedy from acclaimed realist director Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) about a troubled postal worker in Manchester, England who takes inspiration from Eric Cantona, a French soccer star of the 1990s who played in England for many years. Cantona himself appears in the film.
Regular engagement @ local art house near you
Regular admission.
www.ifcfilms.com/films/looking-for-eric
Friday June 18:
The Damned United—Based on the novel by David Peace, this 2009 comedy-drama tells the fact-based tale of Brian Clough, a famous English soccer manager, and his disastrous attempt to take charge of his bitter rival, Leeds United. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, The Queen Underworld) stars as Clough.
@ North Carolina Museum of Art
2110 Blue Ridge Rd
Raleigh
9 p.m. $4, members free.
BLOGGING THE CUP
Follow our World Cup blog at Triangle Offense, the Indy’s sports blog (www.indyweek.com/blogs/triangleoffense), for goal-by-goal analysis from around the Triangle and on the ground in South Africa. We’ll let you know what’s happening on the field and at soccer-crazed hangouts in your backyard. For more info, send a DM to www.twitter.com/indyweek.
