Last weekend, as the African football
players associated with Goan football were warming up and practising, they had
company on the field; a camera crew. This was because, Yasmin Kidwai, an award
winning documentary filmmaker, is making a documentary on African footballers
in India. The documentary will be screened at the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit
in Delhi in October.
“When one thinks of Africa, India and football, you mix the three together and you get Goa as Goa is one of the favourite places for African footballers. As the forum summit will include business talk and conferences on what India has done for Africa, I wanted to focus on what Africa has done for India,” says Yasmin. The shorter, ten-minute version of the film produced by Spring Box Films will be screened at the forum summit while a longer version will be worked by January 2016.
Interacting with players like Odafa Onyeka Okolie and Ndidi Chukwumia, various clubs like Sporting Clube de Goa, and football managers, the documentary portrays the everyday lives of African players living in Goa.
Living in Delhi, Yasmin was amazed by the number of football coaching classes conducted by African players. Though the craze for football is gradually increasing across the country, Goa will always top the list. Talking about her experience making this document, she says, “When you talk about football to these players, nobody is surprised as they feel it’s a natural, organic thing to play passionately. They were unfazed by the cameras and the crew and were happier to play and practise in front of the camera.”
Elaborating on what she has understood from her field work, she continues, “The African footballers fit in fine and they love everything about India, including the food. It’s all about the passion for the game. I was in Kolkata two weeks back and observed how they have been easily accepted by all classes of society and now call the city home. Though in Delhi, there are cases of racism; that’s a different society. On the whole, the coaches of various football clubs are African footballers who are well respected, not only by the children, but they parents as well.”
The love that the receive is also returned. “Goa is much loved by the players living here. They have been to different countries in Asia but they prefer staying back in Goa even after retirement. One such player is Juje Siddi, India’s and Salgaocar Sports Club’s goalkeeper. Many footballers are even married to locals and have their families here,” adds Yasmin, who previously directed documentaries like ‘No Problem’ and ‘Parda Hai Parda’.
Yasmin ensures that her research is thorough before heading out with her camera and capturing the true emotions of the subject. “I spend majority of the time on research and I don’t shoot with a voice-over or a script; basing everything on reactions. I let them do the talking and I don’t tell them what I need. For the Goa shoot, I had informed them that it is a documentary on African players in football and that’s it. I avoid speaking to them before the shoot. Three players reacted well and one was so happy that he preferred playing with my son instead of focussing on the shoot,” says Yasmin, whose son is also learning to play football with an African coach in Delhi.
Her next documentary that is ready for release is ‘Jugaad’, which focuses on social solutions that were initiated by Indians. “The film focuses on how these personalities have sourced something within their means to make a difference to society. The film documents the origins of the Sulabh International movement in India, the Jaipur Foot, which creates rubber-based prosthetic leg for people with below-knee amputations, and the Barefoot College in Rajasthan which pioneered solar electrification in remote villages,” she concludes.