The Kicking and Screening Soccer Film Festival hits London with a week-long extravaganza of films exploring the beautiful game

The Kicking and Screening Football Film Festival was first organised in New York in 2009, and will be making its London bow over a week-long period starting on Friday.

Its website says it aims to “bring together soccer and film enthusiasts to celebrate the beautiful game as expressed on film,” and will be doing so by showing ten feature-length films at four of the independent Everyman Cinemas across the capital.

Tom Watt, who has carved a successful career in football media since playing Lofty Holloway in Eastenders during the 80s, is one of the co-producers of the event, and hopes it will give viewers the chance to go where a Sky or BBC camera might not normally take them.

“When we [Watt and co-producer Grant Best, a match director for Sky] decided to set this up, we came to a conclusion that live football is best watched in a stadium that in a cinema,” he said.  “So what we have gone for is films that take you places where your season ticket or your TV subscription won’t take you.

“Once a football film starts re-enacting play, even if it’s just a training session, there arises a credibility problem – you build the momentum and see it disappear once a ball is kicked.

“But there are so many stories which connect football with the rest of our lives which aren’t so much about the game, but what it means to us. Whether they are South American, Asian or European, these are the films we will be showing at the festival.”

An example of the type of film Watt is describing is Cuando Fuimos Campeones, about Spain’s World Cup win in 2010. Directed by Brit Michael Robinson, it features an inside view into the tournament as well as interviews with some of its biggest names.

“It’s beautifully shot, and will surprise many people with the level of insight into such a high profile event,” said Watt. “It really is amazing, and fits in perfectly with our ethos of taking fans where normal films and football coverage won’t.”

Since becoming involved in Kicking and Screening after being on the advisory panel for the New York version, Watt has been keen to provide an ‘event feel’ to the festival. Former players, journalists and insiders will ‘present’ the films, with Gaizka Mendieta and Guillem Balague doing the honours for Cuando Fuimos Campeones.

The Other Chelsea, about billionaire Rinat Akhmetov’s heavy investment in Shakhtar Donetsk and social and political effects on a region well-known for its coal-mining, will be presented by Jonathan Wilson, an appearance Watt is particularly excited by.

“Jonathan will be coming along and will be bringing his brain in a very large jar too,” said Watt. “He’s a brilliant man, and has already learnt and forgotten more about football in the Soviet Union than most of us put together will ever know. I was so pleased he said yes, as he is the perfect man to present The Other Chelsea.”

Watt says the key to putting on the event in London was the co-operation of Everyman Cinemas, who have allowed screenings to run as part of their programme at their Hampstead, Belsize Park, Baker Street and Screen on the Green Islington branches.

“Fortunately, the lads that run Everyman are big football supporters, one of them being a very big Arsenal fan like myself,” said Watt. “They loved the idea when we suggested it, which made the whole thing possible.

“A lot of people in our position would have been looking at hiring cinemas, and it probably would have been a smaller scale thing. Because Everyman said they would run it it made us able to do something so ambitious – basically a week full of football films.”

For show times, film descriptions and ticket details, visit www.kickingandscreening.com.