SPORT TO ZDROWIE?
The Workers Cup
The Workers Cup 2017 92 min.
The Workers Cup

The host of the world’s biggest football celebration in 2020, the FIFA World Championship, will be Qatar. Everything we associate with the tournament—incredible matches, beautiful goals, joy and despair—are only the tip of the iceberg, although the two feelings do feature prominently in Adam Sobel’s documentary. The American director focuses on preparations for the event, the most important aspect of which is to build the entire infrastructure, including modern stadiums, practically from scratch. Qatar, which is one of the richest countries in the world, suffers from a lack of manpower, so hundreds of thousands of immigrants from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and even Africa flood the country, tempted by the prospect of earning good money, improving their families’ conditions and a promise of a better tomorrow. But what they find on the ground is more of a nightmare than a dream. Grouped in camps that house several thousand people, they feel imprisoned, and their slave labor only gets them minimal compensation. A football match organized for the workers is their one ray of hope: Sobel shows how, regardless of their life situation, everyone is equal on the field. In a broader context, this tale of modern slavery proves, unfortunately, that while sport can connect people it can also tear them apart.

Adam Sobel
Director
Director

Adam Sobel

Pictures

Nazim Aggoune, Joe Saade

Music

Nathan Halpern

Language event
polish
Color
color
Prize
Hot Springs Documentary FF - Best Sports Documentary
Projection list