The Kochi Muziris Biennale-2014 is set to score with 'Hard Tackle: The untold story of football', a week-long package on the game as part of its Artist's Cinema programme.
The film screenings will begin tomorrow.
The February 14-20 package, with films from India, the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Mexico, is curated by film critic-journalist Faizal Khan and features short films, documentaries and features, that portray politics, economics and socio-cultural background in the game.
"The idea is to link society with sports to create an understanding of different cultures and as a unifying factor for people to celebrate and come together", said Faizal, whose father Mohammed Usman played for Kerala.
Faizal and biennale director of programmes Riyas Komu have put together football film packages for the International Film Festival of India in Goa and the International Film Festival in Kerala, which proved so popular that Komu has been roped in as a consultant on this particular package in several cities, including in Indore and Pune.
"There are a couple of anti-football films," Faizal said.
Germany's 'The Whole Stadium' is a 90-minute film that only looks at the spectators and 'Stoppage Time' is a short film on the national anthems that come at the start of the match.
Indian film 'The Vigil' features a match between two Chinese football clubs from the point of view of the goalkeepers.
Kerala footballer I M Vijayan will be felicitated on February 20, the closing day.
Komu noted that the film package was already set to travel to other parts of India as a Kochi Muziris Biennale outreach, starting with Malappuram in Kerala.
"Football represents the best movements of civilians on earth. There are more than 600 football films in the world. It shows the depth of interest that people have towards converting stories around football into motion pictures," Komu said.
