How to Watch
Two teenagers are stuck in Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees. Both are stars of the camp soccer team, but one also excels in the classroom, while the other relies solely on the sport as an escape. Will the arrival of a world-famous soccer club deliver their dreams, or crush them?
Zaatari, Jordan: the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees is a place that possesses little hope. Fawzi and Mahmoud are a pair of teenagers like any other, dreaming of adulthood, obsessed with soccer. Mahmoud is a dedicated student, as well as a soccer star; Fawzi has dropped out but is captain of the camp soccer team. When scouts from a Qatari sports academy descend upon Zaatari, these teenagers might just find a way out. Making his feature film debut, war journalist Ali El Arabi demonstrates a keen eye and a big-hearted sensitivity toward the boys and their families. “Director Ali El Arabi crafts a film of deep humanity, providing an exposé of the struggles and tragedies of refugee life.” --Josh Flanders, Chicago Reader
Director Biography
Based in Cairo, director and producer Ali El Arabi began his career as a producer and director at Dream TV, Egypt’s first private television channel. He has produced numerous documentaries for such international television channels as ZDF, Stern TV Germany, and National Geographic in MENA. Captains of Zaatari (2021) is his first feature.
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