Women’s Recreational, Grassroots, Amateur Soccer Documentaries, Short Films and Books

Zanzibar Soccer Queens by Florence Ayisi (staff bio) [2007]
“Zanzibar Soccer Queens film documents the lives and football activities of Women Fighters, a team of predominantly Muslim women. It presents a community of strong-willed women determined to better their lives and define new identities through playing soccer. Their involvement with soccer goes beyond the pitch; they travel, party on the beach, and play soccer with men. The film presents viewpoints from women determined to achieve personal goals beyond their prescribed traditional roles and expectations. “
New York Times article July 14, 2018 “These Women Were Told Not to Play Soccer. Instead They Formed a Team” by Shannon Simms / Photographs by Nichole Sobecki
Story includes Nassra Juma Mohammed, a former Zanzibari player on the Tanzanian national team, commentator, coach and participant in the Guinness World Record “Most Nationalities in a Football Exhibition Match” by Equal Playing Field Initiative in Lyon, France on June 30, 2019.
MsimuliziOnline story May 26, 2016 “Documentary Gives Exposuire to Zanzibari Women’s Plight and Triumph.”

Zanzibar Soccer Dreams by Florence Ayisi (staff bio) and Catalin Brylla [2016]
“Zanzibar Soccer Dreams presents the dawn of an era for women’s football in Zanzibar. This film is a follow-up to the 2007 Zanzibar Soccer Queens which focused on Women Fighters Football Club, a team of strong-willed Muslim women determined to play soccer to better their lives. The women’s resistance to cultural norms has taken them beyond the borders of their country, and away from the confines of negative attitudes.”

New Generations Queens: A Zanzibar Soccer Story by Megan Shutzer, Director
“I first met the New Generation Queens when I traveled to Zanzibar for work in 2011. Fields dot the island, and every day I would see Zanzibaris playing on them, as well as on beaches, school grounds and in alleyways. Within hours of arriving in Zanzibar I had seen tens of soccer fields, but no women playing. I began to ask whether women played soccer in Zanzibar, and although most people would shake their heads and say no, every now and then someone would tell me, “Yes! There is a team.” Eventually I found the New Generation Queens, sharing a field with a men’s team and practicing outside the Zanzibar prison grounds. I laced up my cleats and joined them.”