Offside

In Jafar Panahi’s socially incisive Offside, as in his excellent The Circle, women’s rights are the issue. On the day of the Iranian soccer team’s 2005 World Cup, a girl struggles to make her way into the men only stadium. Caught, she is detained with other women in the same predicament. The women and soldiers’ infantilized behavior caused by Iran's strict segregation policies highlight their absurdity. All the characters are sympathetic, and Panahi effortlessly demonstrates their essential goodness: a girl escorted to the men’s bathroom escapes during the uproar of evacuating it of males. Yet she later returns, aware of the trouble the officer will suffer.
In the end, the universal love of sport--solidarity through fandom, creates a sense of optimism. Panahi may well believe Iran will eventually rid itself of discrimination. (BFP wonders how long must women wait?) With a light touch, Panahi constructs a thoughtful film so naturalistically done as to make it look as if we’re watching real life unfold.