Women outwit Iran’s ban on watching World Cup in Offside, at Deckchair Cinema, June 25
Screened outdoors at Cates Deck, outside The Polygon Gallery, Jafar Panahi’s guerrilla-style 2006 comedy captures the mood of World Cup fever
Offside
Deckchair Cinema screens Offside on June 25 at Cates Deck on the Lonsdale Quay waterfront, with entertainment and concessions starting at 7 pm and the film starting at 9:25 pm
THE POLYGON GALLERY is screening a perfectly timed Iranian film about young women soccer fanatics—with Iran ready to kick off its World Cup appearances amid chaos, considering all of their matches are scheduled to be played in the U.S. (including the opener tonight, against New Zealand, at 6 pm in Los Angeles).
And with all of host city Vancouver celebrating the “beautiful game”, it’s an apt time to resurrect this 2006 football comedy by celebrated Iranian director Jafar Panahi, whose biting satire It Was Just an Accident was nominated for a recent Academy Award. (The brilliant, shot-on-the-sly offering has him facing a one-year prison sentence and a two-year travel ban on charges of engaging in “propaganda activities” against an oppressive state that has never appreciated his sense of humour.)
Set to be screened on the Lonsdale waterfront, the gently funny Offside follows a group of young women who disguise themselves as boys to try to watch Iran take on Bahrain in the qualifying round for the 2005 World Cup. Some of them pull out facepaint and ballcaps to go under cover, others dress in men’s military garb. Throughout, Panahi leverages the absurdity of the situation to mock societal misogyny, with the women constantly outwitting bewildered guards and police.
It’s worth noting that, showing his usual fearlessness, Panahi filmed the movie guerrilla-style, at an actual stadium, during a real match.
It goes without saying that Offside was banned in Iran. Back when he shot it, Panahi probably couldn’t have predicted that things would get worse for the young women of his home country. By 2022, Mahsa Amini had died of head injuries in police custody due to wearing her hijab improperly, sparking the Woman. Life. Freedom. protests.
Still, at last check, women are at least now technically allowed to watch football in Iran now—albeit heavily restricted to limited sections and with tight enforcement of the hijab—thanks to pressure from FIFA and others. Perhaps unthinkable to the girls in Panahi’s audacious film, a limited number were even permitted to watch the men’s 2026 World Cup qualifying matches in Iran.
Celebrating its fifth summer, Deckchair Cinema takes place on the waterfront right in front of The Polygon Gallery, with admission by donation. Screenings start at sundown for 10 Thursdays in a row, complete with live music and a concession stand with food from Nook and drinks from Strathcona Beer Company. Attendees usually bring their own chairs, but some seating is provided.
Inspired by World Cup fever, The Polygon will continue to screen great sports films. After Offside, next up (on July 2) is Stephen Chow’s kung-fu-powered Shaolin Soccer. 
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