The process started with anger, frustration about the unfairness of money within football. This feeling was confirmed during the production. But during the journey this feeling was mixed with the great passion for football the girls have. It got so clear to me, that there is no difference between woman and men footballers regarding this. And the inequality is not specific for football, it reflects the structure in society.
When screening the film for the first time at a big theater in Malmö, with many young girls footballers in the audience, it was a great feeling when they all looked so proud afterwards. This was a film with their role models, a film about them. And when a 20-year-old guy asked me if it was possible to get a poster of the film, the cool pic of Therese Sjögran, I really felt we had succeeded!
K+S: What’s the best story about Marta that didn’t make it into the film?
Marta is very dedicated in making a difference for women football. So she was definitely okay with us hanging around the pitch, following the team with our camera. But she is a very humble and shy person in public, and it was clear to us that she didn’t want to stand out from the team as some kind of superstar. I would say that all the things we got with Marta got into to final edit. My only disappointment was that we couldn’t use her singing when she played in the hotel lobby after the loss in the CL quarter final in Frankfurt. Marta has a good voice and she played a song of the Brazilian group Tribalistas. Due to rights issues, we had to make an alternative creative sound edit. Because I definitely wanted the scene in the film, since it was very emotional, coming close to Marta.
K+S: The World Cup is coming up this summer. Who ya got?
Haha… you mean the World Cup NEXT summer? There is a journalist in Sweden that calls our women's national team the "Real National team," the team that wins games! ;)
Seriously, I am not that into men's football but of course Brazil is always close to heart. And the small nation of Iceland is always a thrill to watch, speaking of strong team spirit.
The manager of the Swedish national team, Janne Andersson, is an old friend of mine and of course I wish him and our Swedish team all the best of luck. However, I am not sure that we will go all the way…! ;)