Justin Webster doesn't make soccer films solely, but he is one of the most prolific soccer filmmakers in the world, having directed FC Barcelona Confidential (2004), The Ref (2009), and WIN! (2016). His films have appeared at K+S festivals twice. His current project is the Amazon Prime series Six Dreams, about La Liga.

K+S: What makes the game (or business) of soccer such a fertile area for storytelling and filmmaking

WEBSTER: For me, it’s most interesting for the family of films called observational, or vérité. Sport, especially team sport, provides a time frame where you can predict an outcome, or ending. Meanwhile, there are inevitably things at stake. A team sport means everyone has multiple relations, often intense. All that makes it at least a viable context for crafting a story a dramatic, human story. The dangers, however, are that it can slip into a catalogue of winning and losing, long on clichés, with no meaning. But as vérité films are very risky and anti-industrial by nature, at least you start with some things in your favour.

K+S: What makes it so challenging to capture the action on the field?

WEBSTER: I think the action on the field is the least interesting aspect of football films. It’s great in small doses as punctuation, and it takes on a totally new meaning if you have the backstory (which is the real story).

K+S: What is your favorite soccer film, and why?

WEBSTER: Les Yeux Dans Les Bleus, probably, for the scene of Zidane after he is sent off in the 1998 World Cup. That was the inspiration for my soccer films. Hoop Dreams, though not a soccer film, is an even bigger influence.

K+S: You’ve worked with many star players and coaches. Who is the one that really impressed you and why?

WEBSTER: Amaia Gorostiza, the president of Eibar, the tiny Basque club that is a miracle of La Liga. You have to watch Six Dreams to see why she's so impressive.

K+S: What soccer story would you love to tell?

WEBSTER: The one I am working on: the second season of Six Dreams. To go deeper into the characters.