Over the past few years, I’ve worked on a number of films in Djibouti, Sudan, and Darfur, and these films generated intense benefits to the refugees of these countries. My film seeks to convey the idea that these people don’t only need our pity, they don’t simply require basic needs, but they need other, less tangible things as well. My film is shaped by the stories of all refugees-of Somalis, of Yemenis, etc. POV: Was there a danger in focusing on this success story in that somehow could make the larger story less grievous?ĪEA: I, of course, wish I had the same impact on the other people in the film, or the other refugees, as this film has had on Fawzi and Mahmoud. That is why Fawzi ended up being selected. Several teams apparently had some issues where there was a one to two year age difference, and the team that was selected was missing a number of players. A number of teams were coming from other countries. POV: Do you think the film changed how the two of them were treated by those selecting for the team?ĪEA: We had no interference whatsoever in Fawzi’s selection. Maybe one would die? Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe the boys would be like this, maybe they would separate. Yet as a human being, I’m very happy he made the team. Talking as a director, if Fawzi stayed in the camp and was separated, it probably would have made for an even stronger film.
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POV: Of course, the movie wrote itself as it unfolded.ĪEA: Yes, exactly. Was this always the case? Did you have a version of this film after six years and think this is going to be a sad movie? You could have an angry movie, but instead you have a film which is warm and beautiful and human. There could be a version of your movie that is far more miserable – Fawzi doesn’t get to join his friend, for example. This is your version of this story, and people may claim that this story is too happy for the subject. POV: That being said, film inevitably has a perspective. There was a lot I couldn’t say, and was blocked from explaining my feelings to the audience. With the networks, I couldn’t tell the story using the same tools – my camera, my music, etc. This is a very different experience for me. With my film now in the cinemas around the world, I’ve been given the opportunity to speak to anyone without control from the networks. POV: Yes, in this little square called Tahrir.ĪEA: Yes, and many of my friends were behind the protests. We even staged a revolution in order to rectify that!
We have problems in the Arab world, including the inability to truly say what we want to say. When I saw my work on the news, I felt it shared only 10% of what I wanted to say. Making a documentary is fundamentally different. We couldn’t tell the story from all the angles I wished. We filmed everything, but we presented the audience with numbers and statistics without getting close to any one refugee. I worked for a number of channels, such as the BBC and National Geographic. POV: What do you see as the difference between documentary and journalism?ĪEA: For many years, I was a journalist. The following has been edited for concision and clarity. Home to 2022’s FIFA World Cup, there was a certain surrealism to be in this land of trillion dollar investments and complete infrastructural transformation while talking about this story of two young, struggling men, but this seemed the perfect backdrop to speak of the inherent contradictions of both the region and the film. POV spoke exclusively to El Arabi during the Ajyal Film Festival of Qatar, the same nation where the two young men first experienced the life of luxury and excess outside of their regular environment. Beautifully shot and told with equal parts subtlety and sensitivity, it’s one of the great non-fiction films of the year. When an opportunity comes to play in front of a foreign crowd at a tournament their futures seem split, showing that the path to success isn’t always a well paved one. The film follows Mahmoud and Fawzi as they navigate their lives within the camp and find refuge on the pitch. The result is Captains of Za’atari, the emotionally resonant award-winning tale of two friends who dream of success as football (aka, “soccer’) stars. He wanted to shed light on the humanity that one can find even within situations that outwardly may appear hopeless. This time, however, he was seeking a story that would help humanize the tale and go beyond the mere numbers and statistics that defines those suffering from the Syrian conflict. He already had numerous reports from the region for local and international media outlets under his belt.
Around a decade ago, Egyptian journalist and filmmaker Ali El Arabi entered Jordan’s massive Za’atari refugee camp in search of a story.
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