Argentina is variously known as the land of the tango, beefsteaks, Borges, Cortázar...and, of course, football. The first South American country to have a football club, football association, and football league, Argentina – which gave us football legend Diego Maradona – takes the sport very seriously. The four documentaries and one feature film in this program organized by Pera Film – with the collaboration of the Argentine Embassy, Istanbul’s Cervantes Institute, and the INCAA Argentine Film Board – all deal with the topic of the world’s most popular team sport.

Javier Vázquez’s 2005 work Loving Maradona tells the life story of this phenomenally talented footballer, from his humble beginnings to his stardom and later falls from grace. Argentina and its Football Factory, a 2007 documentary by Sergio Iglesias, describes the scouting and recruitment of young football players (and their exploitation by parents eager to cash in on their success). Hernán Castellanos’s World Cup 78, A Parallel Story (2008) reminds us that Argentina’s 1978 World Cup victory took place during one its darkest periods, the Videla dictatorship. Juan Pablo Roubio’s 2010 Argentina Fútbol Club examines the sociological effects of football on the daily lives of Argentinians. Finally, Carlos Sorín’s The Road to San Diego (2006) is the fictional story of one devoted fan’s quest to see his idol, the ailing Diego Maradona.

Today’s program consists of The Road to San Diego.

How much: From the venue: 10 TL; 5 TL (discount)
Language: Spanish with TR subtitles