During a nail-biting World Cup qualifier, a group of young women gather outside the stadium in Tehran. Inside, 100,000 men cheer along to the intense emotions that the ‘king of football’ evokes in them. As the women are not allowed into the stands, the friends find creative ways to experience the match up close nonetheless.
In Offside, Iranian New Wave filmmaker Jafar Panahi weaves humour, gender roles and social engagement into a vibrant portrait of an Iranian society in flux. The blurred line between fact and fiction remains ever-present in his exploration of filmmaking.