Africa United

I saw Africa United as part of the Nordisk Panorama documentary competition as was left slightly confused and suspicious on a number of points.

On IMDb it's listed in the genre of comedy but it is a self professed documentary. I have not seen any review or information on this film other than the general blurb provided by the filmmakers, but I found this 'documentary' had a very contrived and unrealistic vibe. I felt that many of the scenes had been staged and were seemingly based around some sort of script, insomuch that the players new where each scene was heading. Of course these are actual people so there were moments of genuine reality in there, but far too few. The fact the director Ólafur Jóhannessón also took a screenplay credit would also suggest this documentary's credibility is questionable.

This is not criticism per se, the film was excellently made and was engaging, but I found myself distracted by this mis-trust, constantly analyzing scenes for tell-tale acting gestures, which I found a lot of. Indeed if this were to re-label itself as a mockumentary of sorts, then I would have enjoyed it a great deal more, as it is a nice uplifting story with many funny moments. It is more a question of can this be classed as a documentary.

This film is part of a new wave of artificial documentaries, such as Supersize Me, where an ideal story is thought up before production thus compromising its integrity. These filmmakers have too much time and money at stake in the films success to leave it up to fate, and through clever editing and a slight bending of the truth they reach their pre-planned destinations. The director himself admits this, saying that he wanted the film to follow the 'Rocky formula' and 'making the material fit into that structure- was a big task'.

Overall I left the cinema feeling like I'd been cheated, further compounded by my fellow viewers, as they were all of the opinion that it was all completely factual and honest. But that all said I did enjoy the film, and the 80 mins went by quickly enough. If you have a particular interest in football or have ever played in a local 'pub-team' league (which I have) I would definitely give this a shot.

I have it in my collection. Not all the story are in Iceland, part of it is in Serbia

I don't know if Africa United is a documentary or not - I saw it in Karlov Vary FILM FESTIVAL this summer with my friends. I can say that it is a good film, a little to fast and too quick sometimes, but funny to watch.

Characters are all maybe a little black and white (sometime literally) - maybe they are true life characters, they seem to be. And if so, I think God must have a good sense of humor when creating people. I am not a great football fan - I used to be when Poland could play football (long time ago) - but I like in this film the cameraman goes to many countries and you can see a lot from where characters are from.

One other thing I want to mention, if anybody knows about the soundtrack from the film. The music is great but I cannot find any music from the film. Also if anybody knows if it will show in Poland?

Anyway, just a very funny film, also if you don't like football.

I just wanted to set a couple of things straight, since not everyone may be in the position to read in-depth interviews with the creators of this film. It was quite popular here in Iceland so there was a lot of discussion regarding its factual accuracy.

Basically, it is a retelling of a true story mixed in with fiction and real ad lib moments. The team exists, the players play themselves, etc. - it's just that they have a script to work from.

While it's a slightly confusing and frustrating approach, I find it works well overall. The film itself has its strengths, such as the characters being believable and sympathetic (albeit for obvious reasons), but ultimately falls short of being everything it could have been. Perhaps less scripting would have made it a more engaging experience.