Documentary & Web Series Preview: ‘American Fútbol’
09 June, 2014In just a few days, much of the world will be focused on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which begins with the host country’s national team (Brazil) taking on Croatia in São Paulo. While the audience in the United States will be large thanks to its roots as an immigrant nation, not everyone will tune in. A new documentary and web series aims to change that.
American Fútbol is a web series and documentary about a group of soccer fanatics, journalists, and filmmakers, traveling from the United States to Brazil for the World Cup. The goal of the film, which was made possible, in part, via an IndieGogo fundraising campaign, is to lessen the cultural divide that exists between the United States and Latin America by exploring “Latin America’s vibrant cultures, and how they impact the U.S., all through the lens of soccer.”
The filmmakers will do this by sharing a unique story about culture, sport and passion, from each country they visit (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and the starting point of the United States, of course).
Check out this dispatch from Ecuador, which features music from Kansas City’s Making Movies, a perfect choice being that they are a futbol-loving, multicultural group, who make Latin music from the midwest. (Listen to and download “Chase Your Tail,” the single featured in this webisode, here, and look out for more music from Making Movies in the full American Fútbol documentary.)
From the World Cup, the filmmakers will publish uncensored content on their YouTube channel: “We know the soccer will be beautiful, but the stories outside the stadiums are equally, if not more important to tell,” they say. We hope they cover how the protesting fares once the World Cup, said to be the most expensive in the tournament’s history, begins.
Post-World Cup, the filmmakers will release a feature-length documentary that provides a comprehensive look at the sport on the American continent. We’re very much looking forward to that. In the meantime, follow their updates on YouTube, and watch the American Fútbol trailer, below.
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