Italia '90

One hundred years of Portuguese Football, from the first public experiments in 1888, in Cascais, the evolution in the twenties, the National Stadium, the glory of the sixties, the 25th of April until 1984.

A sport like football is primarily a passionate celebration, but one that is so massive (economically, politically and socially) that it, of course, also brings many problems. Olallo Rubio's third documentary (and fourth film in total), Ilusión Nacional, is a take on how the world's most popular sport relates to Mexican society and politics.

It is April 15th, 1989. Thousands of fans are rushing into Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield to watch the FA-Cup semi-final between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forrest. The day ends with one of the greatest tragedies in football: 96 people do not survive the catastrophe of Hillsborough. 766 get injured. The 30-minute-long documentary especially gives a voice to the survivors.

House of the Wickedest Man in the World is the story of a ruined building near the city of Cefalú in Sicily. In the early 1920s, Aleister Crowley, the most famous occultist of his time, lived in the building, practicing magical rituals. In the summer of 1955, Kenneth Anger, considered one of the pioneers of experimental cinema, traveled with sexologist Alfred Kinsey to Sicily to find Aleister Crowley’s temple to shoot a film about the occultist’s time in Cefalú. The Thelema Abbey film was never released.

Any given Sunday of 1974 in Spain, soccer games in several stadiums, the sarcastic voice of commentators, the inevitable presence of advertising. Goal! The victors and the defeated.

After being shot during a robbery in Colombia and losing sensation in his legs, Uruguayan soccer star Alexis Viera finds a new sense of purpose.

In the 1986 World Cup, Diego Maradona, the world's greatest football player, reached his apotheosis, redefining what is possible for one man to accomplish on a football pitch. His ability to take control of the ball - the game - an entire tournament - split the world in two. It was both illuminating and an affront, beguiling and an outrage, and the fervor that surrounded him was unprecedented, bordering on the religious. Constructed from archive material, "Maradona '86" is an ode to this ultimate footballing idol, basking in the operatic intensity of his performance in Mexico as he wrote his name on football history forever.

A film essay investigating the question of what “the West” means beyond the cardinal direction: a model of society inscribed itself in the Federal Republic of Germany’s postwar history and architecture. The narrator shifts among reflections on modern architecture and property relations, detailed scenes from childhood, and a passed-down memory of a “hemmed-in West Germany,” recalling the years of her parents’ membership in a 1970s communist splinter group.

A look at the April 15, 1989 tragedy at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, where a stampede in the stadium's standing-room-only areas killed 96 people and injured 766. The film also examines the ongoing efforts of victims' families to seek truth and justice, as well as tangible effects on English football, including stadium upgrades and the emergence of the English Premier League.

Chile hosts a decisive World Cup qualifier at Santiago’s National Stadium just weeks after the stadium had been transformed into a concentration camp and killing field for opponents of Augusto Pinochet (who had just gained power in a military coup). Though FIFA investigates the matter, the game goes on, with the Chilean team winning in a walkover after their opponents from the Soviet Union boycott in protest over the stadium's use

With heart and determination, Antoine Griezmann overcame his small stature to become one of the world's top soccer players and a World Cup champion.