The story of Streetball, a documentary on South Africa’s 2008 – 2009 Homeless World Cup Teams

In Cape Town, there are two realities.  Sixteen years after the end of apartheid, South Africa prepares to

host the FIFA World Cup and the country is ripe with celebration.  New hot spots, airports and stadiums were built to welcome travelers from around the world. However, there remains a generation that lives in extreme poverty, with many youth falling into lives of violence, drugs and abuse.

Streetball is a fast paced documentary that tells the stories of South Africa’s 2008 Homeless World Cup team. The Homeless World Cup is an annual soccer tournament that draws teams from over 56 countries—comprised of homeless and the excluded.  The SA Squad consists of ex-convicts, former gangsters, orphans and recovering drug addicts that band together to represent their country, proving that no one is beyond redemption.   Streetball is a story of hope and of the resilience that dwells within the human spirit.   But while these mens’ dreams are simply to have a home and to be recognized as people who need care, often times the realization of those dreams is accompanied by a sobering reality.

]]> http://www.streetballfilm.com/2009/12/05/synopsis/feed/ 0 http://www.streetballfilm.com/2009/12/04/the-cast/ http://www.streetballfilm.com/2009/12/04/the-cast/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:46:19 +0000 Christina http://www.streetballfilm.com/?p=2712

Meet the soccer players of South Africa’s 2008 Homeless World Cup team and their leaders in the Cape Town community.

Martin Africa grew up in Cape Town and lived on the streets since he was five years old.    After spending years in and out of prisons and gangs, Martin found out he had a son and needed to find a way out of a life of drugs and gangsterism.  In 2007, he attended trials for South Africa’s Homeless World Cup street soccer team. He was subsequently named captain of the 2008 team.

Thapelo Kalpens grew up as an orphan , living in a youth home.  He’s a strong student and wants to attend college but is unsure of how to pay for tuition. He tried out for the Homeless World Cup team in hopes of gaining experiences and connections that would benefit his future. Thapelo made the team and was named vice-captain.

Sandile Mhlongo became an orphan when he was nine years old.  He grew up in a children’s shelter but when he turned eighteen, he was sent out to live on his own.  With no family or support, he ended up living on the streets.  He heard about trials for the Homeless World Cup team and stood out among the competition. Sandile was a top goal scorer for the 2008 Homeless World Cup team.

Petros Nkomo, aka “Rasta,” grew up in Soweto and later moved to Cape Town.  He was an orphan at age seven and struggled to find stability for himself on the streets.  He spent some time in prison due to petty crimes and while he was there, he played soccer. He became an excellent goal keeper which made him an obvious choice for the 2008 team.

David Abrahams is a community leader, focused on developing youth structures. He founded the Western Cape Street Soccer League in 2006, in preparation for the Homeless World Cup held that year in Cape Town.  He has since grown the league into the organization, South African Homeless Street Soccer (SAHSS) and works for the league on a volunteer basis.

Peter Cooksen coached the 2008 Homeless World Cup team.  He works full time for organizations in the Atlantis community and volunteered for the South African Homeless Street Soccer League.  His coaching provided guidance to the players as they prepared to compete in Australia.

Kgafela oa Magogodi is a Spoken Word Poet and film scholar. He taught at the University of the Witwatersrand and was also a guest lecturer at New York University.    He has performed worldwide and was the first recipient of the Steve Biko Fellowship.  His work explores the social roles and media representation of Black intellectuals, as well as the significance of maintaining cultural practices to uphold a vibrant civil society.

Streetball was funded by South African PBO (Public Benefit Organization) and United States 501(c)3 public charity From Us With Love (FUWL).  With little to no experience in the film industry, but a passion to share the triumphs and tragedies of the 2008/2009 South African Homeless World Cup Teams, Streetball began production in July of 2008.

FUWL asked filmmaker, Demetrius Wren to join them in South Africa in February of 2008 to photograph and make short documentary videos of their ongoing projects.  While spending time with the South African Homeless Street Soccer League, President, David Abrahams suggested that Wren make a full length documentary film about street soccer.  Wren shared Abrahams request with FUWL Founder, Michael Smith and Smith agreed.  Within a few weeks, FUWL approved funding for Streetball.

Streetball was made by a crew of only two. Demetrius Wren and Christina Ghubril shot, wrote, interviewed, directed, edited, photographed, sound mixed, researched, graphic designed, and composed the elements that make up the film under the direction of Executive Producer, Michael Smith, who also founded FUWL in April of 2007.

Thanks to modern technology, two 25 year olds with a lot of passion could complete a film in their living room.  Streetball was edited, sound designed and graphic designed on a Mac, using all Mac programs.

FUWL’s strong relationships with organizations involved with the street soccer league, gave Wren and Ghubril full access to the staff and players.  Wren and Ghubril would often leave the cameras behind and spend time getting to know the players and the Cape Town community.  The friendships that formed made it comfortable to hold conversational interviews and hang out at ease while a camera was around

Without a full crew or imposing equipment, Wren and Ghubril gained access into places and stories that are not often open to “outsiders” or media. Also, without Martin Africa, much of Streetball would not exist. He took Wren and Ghubril into locations that housed local gangs and to where many street people lived.  Once, Ghubril watched a man twirl a gun at them while filming in the Quarry but he put it down when he saw Martin with the crew.  On Long Street, Martin was told by some kids that if he wasn’t with the crew, they would’ve stolen the cameras.

Ghubril wanted to highlight South African musicians and artists in the film, to give context to the vibrant post-apartheid culture and generation. Wren was inspired by the “Take-Away Videos” — one-shot music videos of bands performing live in their community locations.  The two combined their ideas and brought South African musicians into the fabric of the film.

While finishing her undergrad in Johannesburg, Ghubril met Wandile Molebetsi of UjU, and would frequent UjU’s concerts each week.  Kgafela oa Magogodi was her professor at NYU and at the University of the Witwatersrand.  On her spring break in Cape Town, Ghubril visited the District 6 museum where she was moved by Faith47’s artwork.  Jitsvinger, the Rudimentals and ETC Crew, were found on myspace.  They all generously donated their time, music and artwork to From Us With Love for Streetball.  All proceeds from the film and soundtrack will go to fund From Us With Love’s ongoing projects to bring about hope in South Africa.

Playing at Yarra Pitch

It’s been a few days of ups and downs for South Africa but thankfully, the team ended today on a high note!  A bit about our journeys:

School girls supporting South Africa

Brighton Primary School

Sandile in the School

Ethan greeting school kids

Riaan signing autographs

Yesterday morning, one of the local elementary schools had invited the South African team to come and visit their classes for a celebration of the team and time for the students to interview and mingle with the players in order to learn more about their lives, country and sport.  I spoke to some of the guys on the drive to the school and they were open about their concerns.  Many people here have greeted them with ignorance, wanting to buy them things in assuming ways or thinking that they are unable to take care of themselves in one way or another.  There have also been some awkward moments with people condescendingly telling the team that they somehow sponsored the event and thus the boys.  I think these moments come out of fine intentions, most likely, but come also from ignorance and end up insulting the players who are highly competant, intelligent and driven individuals.

However, when we left the school, the guys said that they felt welcomed by the students and were touched that the school was so interested in them, wanting to hear their stories and get their autographs.  There were some mixed feelings, as well, as the team discussed the fact that they never have been–and do not think they will be–welcomed and praised in even a small school in their home country.  I think it is really great that the students and the team were able to share this exchange.

Sicelo vs. Poland

Vuyo vs. Ghana

Ghana celebrating

Sicelo vs. Ghana

After the school visit, we all headed back to Federation Square.  In order to place for the semi-finals, South Africa played against Poland and Ghana, two incredibly solid teams.  The guys had expressed their concerns before the game about the fact that they were tired and struggling to pick their momentum up after the morning’s events.  Once the game began, Poland was able to get a few solid shots in and create enough stability for themselves that South Africa couldn’t catch up.  Poland won the game 8-1.

In the game against Ghana, South Africa showed up with their game faces on.  Neither team was able to score for almost the entire first half, each side playing tough defense.  Most of the game was played neck and neck between the two teams and again, in the end of the game, Ghana was able to pull through with a few solid shots and claim the lead with a final score of 10-6.  Our guys were a bit bummed but ultimately knew that they had played incredibly tough teams and that, particularly against Ghana, had put up a good fight and could be proud about that (Ghana is now up against Russia for the Cup).  We all spent the evening, again, hanging out together in the player’s lounge with many of the athletes from other teams.

This morning Demetrius and I got up early to get some shots of Melbourne and the surrounding areas.  We got some beautiful shots of the ocean as well as downtown Melbourne before heading to the games.

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Today, the guys played the Netherlands and just barely lost in the final moments with a score of 4-3.  This knocked them out of the running for the cup and they were pretty upset afterwards.  There were some conflicts between the teammates concerning whose fault the losses have been and such and Thapelo, the captain, was down and concerned.  They had a bit of a break before their final game against Hungary, however, and they came back energized and strong.  They won 7-5 and are now waiting for the results of the rest of the teams to know how they place for tomorrow.  I was glad to see them happy again, at the end of the day.  We’re all looking forward to the next few days exploring Australia together!

Vuyo

Thapelo

Coach and Riaan

Sicelo and South African fan

Getting ready for round one

Rasta in action

OK, so all of my competive-big-sister-used-to-think-I’d-be-the-first-woman-in-the-NBA sides are coming out.  Exploding out, really.  I’m all about street soccer.  Our boys are doing incredibly well–they were practically a new team today.  They arrived on the court this morning ready to play a tough game against Australia, who had a serious home team advantage. The crowds were full of Australians and Australia fans and South Africa wasn’t playing around.  They were using their teammates well, playing a clean game with a lot of slick passes and scores and won 7-3.  It was a great victory.  I was “that girl” screaming from the sidelines with all of the neutral journalists.   I gotta support!

Thapelo vs. Australia

Vuyo vs. Australia

Australian player

Australia and South Africa celebrating together

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Our second game today was a lot harder.  Nigeria is a tough team with a solid reputation.  For almost the entire first half, neither team could score.  Both sides played serious defense and have fantastic goal keepers.  Nigeria scored the first point followed quickly by South Africa and so the rest of the game went.  Eventually, Nigeria got a two point lead and the rest of the game was spent catching up a point, losing a point and, in the last seconds of the game, Nigeria scored again.  South Africa lost with a final score of 10-7 in favor of Nigeria.  They put in an incredible fight, however, and can hold their heads high knowing they fought a very good team well.

Nigeria in action

Nigeria's goal keeper

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Scotland’s team are the reigning champs from last year.  All of the teams we played against today are powerhouses.  Again, South Africa put in a good fight but the guys spoke about how tired they were by the end of the day and that they didn’t feel good about their final game.  We lost 9-4, in the end.  Also, Scotland’s team has several more players than South Africa’s team.  Especially without Martin, South Africa has only six guys to rotate with and Rasta has to play keeper non stop.  He was particularly exhausted by the end of the day.  Again, he did an excellent job all day but felt that by the third match, his stamina was down.

Coach

Rasta after a long day

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Sicelo after a serious game

Vuyo at the end of the day

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We all grabbed dinner together at a local burger joint and it was great to see the guys relaxing and having a good time.  The shared some pretty funny stories of things they’ve experienced over the last few days, their perspectives of women from different countries, and also were honest that they’ve had a hard time building relationships with players from certain African nations due to the xenophobia and violence that went on in South Africa last year.  The team feels that the players from Zimbabwe and Malawi, in particular, do not trust them and are not as open to becoming friends as some of the other teams are.  Yet it sounds like they’ve had some good conversations with players from other countries, particularly Brazil, swapping stories of what life is like in their respective homes, what the landscapes are like, as well as what gang life is like in various communities.  I think it has been an eye opening experience for them, overall.

School boys playing outside the arena

Australian school children in crowd

Braiding a local's hair

Girl braiding volunteer's hair

Australian's outside the arena

Australian musician on the street

Yarra River

Aussie locals who sang American spirituals with the South African team in a restaurant

Australia

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Tomorrow is another round of games marking which teams will make it into the finals.  Wish our guys luck!