Different countries, different cultures, different customs.  While many nations take it for granted that women attend soccer/football matches, this is not the case in Iran.  Veteran director, Jafar Panahi, takes the occasion of the 2005 qualifying match for the World Cup between Iran and Bahrain for a comedy of disguise and errors.
Several women and girls are desperate to watch the match and devise different ways of disguise to get past the police and the officials.  Most of them are not too hard to spot, so they are caught and held by young military personnel until the match is over.
Comedy is an obvious way to make social comment.  The light touch on a serious issue often helps give a perspective that enables observers to make prudent and commonsense decisions.  So, the escapades of the women, the jokes about their disguises, the exasperation of the young men and the critique of the customs are all meant to be entertaining – with purpose.
The film moves with a cheerful pace and the audience is invited to share the frustrations of the women – so near and yet so far.  When final victory is achieved, some of the tightness disappears in the exhilaration, which means that it should be possible (despite irate fathers who speak of killing their daughters for their behaviour) for men and women to watch the matches together.
Panahi has made several significant films over the last decade, each quite different, the children’s film The White Balloon, the story of women released from gaol, The Circle, and the crime drama, Crimson Gold.

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