Offside (Jafar Panahi, 2006)

A group of women find themselves in a common quandary being held by soldiers in a pen outside the national football stadium in Tehran, forbidden as they are to get inside and see the World Cup match taking place within. While football may be the catalyst for their protest, and the film contains comic overtones, it's not a football film in any sense, nor is it a comedy except in the sense that the situation is so farcical, that it's easier to laugh than cry. But the director is wise enough to avoid slipping into polemic, when there's really no need to after all, and lets the material speak for itself. Refreshing.

7/10