Writer/director Craig Tanner no longer lives in South Africa but you can tell by watching this documentary that Africa has not lost it's grip on his soul.
In the movie Tanner uses factual information interlaced with interviews of a broad range of people, from unknowns in the street to others with world famous names, to explore the divergence of views that hosting the 2010 soccer world cup has ignited in people who live in South Africa. This mosaic of ideas forces the viewer to think about many of the issues confronting a country clearly still in transition. These same issues are also faced by many other developing countries, so while this movie is about the Soccer World Cup, and set in South Africa, the ideas it raises are more universal.
Tanner succeeds in keeping his own bias in check, which is something not every director seems capable of or prepared to do. In spite of this, most of us will no doubt interpret this movie in a way that reinforces our existing perspectives and prejudices. I suspect from the wry humour that creeps in and takes the hard edge off the serious subject matter, that Tanner will be happy if even a small percentage of viewers take more from his movie than just a tour of one of the most interesting countries in the world today. Watch the movie.
