A film by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine. Starts June 26th at the fsk. In English/Spanish/Italian/French with German subtitles..

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

»Why haven’t I seen this befo­re?« In the first sce­ne of Copa 71, American inter­na­tio­nal foot­bal­ler Brandi Chastain sta­res at her tablet in ama­ze­ment. She is wat­ching foo­ta­ge of the first ever inter­na­tio­nal women’s foot­ball tour­na­ment in Mexico City in 1971, Copa 71. Why is it that one of the best-atten­ded women’s sport­ing events of all time has been forgotten?

In 1970, the first European tour­na­ment took place in Italy; SC 07 Bad Neuenahr repre­sen­ted Germany. A year later, inter­na­tio­nal teams from Argentina, England, France, Denmark and Mexico com­pe­ted against each other in Mexico. This purely com­mer­cial event, which was not backed by FIFA, pro­ved a huge suc­cess, attrac­ting crowds of 100,000 to the sta­di­ums. Yet what could have been the launch pad for women’s foot­ball world­wi­de fai­led to attract any sup­port. Another ten years would pass befo­re the next inter­na­tio­nal tour­na­ment. In Taipei, Taiwan, SSG 09 Bergisch Gladbach beca­me world cham­pi­ons in 1981. This also paved the way for the for­ma­ti­on of an offi­ci­al women’s natio­nal team in Germany in 1982. One thing to note though: women’s foot­ball was offi­ci­al­ly ban­ned until 1970. Perhaps not sur­pri­sing then that ano­ther deca­de pas­sed befo­re the first FIFA Women’s World Cup was held, in China. The final saw Brandi Chastain score the win­ning penal­ty to help the US take the tro­phy home.

The film pres­ents archi­ve foo­ta­ge of the tour­na­ment, plus inter­views with the play­ers of the time – impres­si­ve per­so­na­li­ties who pro­vi­de vivid accounts of the pre­pa­ra­ti­ons and the tour­na­ment its­elf. A threa­ten­ed walk-out by the Mexican team over pay at one point put the tour­na­ment in jeo­par­dy, as did the ten­se atmo­sphe­re bet­ween the teams, still tan­gi­ble when wat­ching the film in the cinema.

Credits:

GB 2023, 91 Min., Englisch/Spanisch/Italienisch/Französisch mit deut­schen Untertiteln, Regie: Rachel Ramsay und James Erskine
Schnitt: Arturo Calvete und Mark Roberts
Kamera: Angela Neil

Trailer:

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