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Media Kit: Archived Press Releases
Shell Shockers Sponsor Soccer Cinema Festival
July 11, 2006The New Orleans Shell Shockers are teaming up with one of the South’s leading alternative movie theaters to present a fascinating collection of international soccer-related feature films.
Organizer Rene Broussard hopes to take advantage of the high level of local interest in the sport generated by the World Cup. The greatest soccer show on Earth ended on Sunday and was watched by a cumulative audience of more than 30 billion people in 213 countries - 21 more countries than are members of the United Nations.
The Soccer Cinema / Futbol Films series kicks off on Saturday at Zeitgeist Arts Center and runs until next weekend. It includes five different films from three continents with locations ranging from South America to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
It all starts with an 8pm showing on Saturday and Sunday of ‘Soccer Stories,’ a Spanish-language movie by Andres Wood set in Chile which uses the sport to link three different characters.
At 8pm on Tuesday and Wednesday July 18 and 19 ‘Tickets’ tells a trio of tales set on a cross-border train ride through Europe. It is a collaboration by three of the world’s most acclaimed directors - Ken Loach, Abbas Kiarostami and Ermanno Olmi.
On Thursday July 20 at 8pm there is a double-bill: ‘A Man Thing’ is an Academy Award-nominated short from Poland about a teenager’s attempts to hide injuries inflicted by an abusive father from his team-mates and coach, while ‘Welcome to San Pedro’ focuses on six friends divided by a match between Yugoslavia and Croatia.
The season ends on Saturday and Sunday July 22 and 23 with the 8pm showing of the controversial ‘Goal Dreams’ by Maya Sanbar and Jeffrey Saunders. This documentary about the Palestinian national side received worldwide media coverage last month when it was premiered by being projected onto an Israeli security wall.
The Shell Shockers are sponsoring the series and anyone wearing a Shell Shockers or Riverside Indoor Soccer Arena tee-shirt will get in for just $2. Otherwise entrance is $7 with discounts for students, seniors and members. Children under 12 are free.
Zeitgeist, now in its twentieth year, is situated at 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd and is a voluntary-run organization that does not receive grants or public funds. Every year it is the venue for both the New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival and the New Orleans Book Fair.