Zanzibar Soccer Queens (2007)

In the Muslim country, Zanzibar, women's activities are severely curtailed. This is a portrait of a feisty group of women who have defied the cultural constraints by playing a man's game, soccer, and giving reign to their competitive spirit. The women talk about the difference soccer has made in their daily lives. Ordinarily they are expected to remain at home. Now their horizons have widened, their physical fitness has improved, and their sense of self has risen .One women is visibly angry at her husband for forbidding her to play. As she performs her domestic chores she bemoans her fate --a star player she was on her way to becoming famous in her country and even beyond its borders, until he made her resign. A cleric warns women that playing in shorts and jerseys is tempting to the male spectators who ordinarily only see women covered up from neck to ankles. The soccer women, however, are devout, and are suitably attired when they pray in mosques. They seem to separate their daily existence from their athletic lives. One woman wonders why other sports like volleyball are allowed, but soccer is banned. Clerical disapproval has meant that there is a lack of women's teams with which to compete. The women must sometimes play against men's teams!