At the UVX Theatre in the Akihabara area of Tokyo, I witnessed Tokyo’s first International Football Film Festival. To an almost completely full theater on a Sunday afternoon, they showed the world premiere of SONS OF BEN: THE MOVIE, a film about the Philadelphia Union’s supporter. My friend Dan Orlowitz, an American soccer journalist living in Japan, played a big part in helping this movie reach a new and hungry audience.
According to Dan, the film had generated some positive buzz via Twitter and Facebook after its Saturday premiere in Akihabara. For an American documentary about a team most Japanese football fans have never heard of, this was a coup.
The festival screened several films, predominantly documentaries. Istanbul United is a documentary about Turkish football ultras getting together and protesting against the demolition of Gezi Park which, in turn, became a protest against Prime Minister Erdogan; You'll Never Walk Alone My Friend ユルネバ 〜キミは一人じゃない is a film about my beloved FCTokyo.
According to the trailer and the movie's website this is a love story based around FC Tokyo . Other documentaries included: MESSI, about Lionel Messi, FC Rwanda, about how the atrocities in Rwanda during the 1994 Rwandan genocide affected football; and We Are Reds! about the Urawa Reds football club here in Japan. It was a very eclectic and exciting film festival with much to offer.
My knowledge of the Sons Of Ben was pretty limited before watching this documentary. As a Toronto FC supporter, a team with a strong supporters group culture of its own, I would always hear about the Philadelphia Union’s tour de force supporters club and how amazing their tifo’s looked in highlight reels, with the Commodore Barry Bridge behind them.
The biggest weakness of Major League Soccer is the fact that the teams are just too far apart. Regional and geographic rivalries are usually isolated, and you are only generally aware of them if you are connected to the city, the province, or the state in which they take place. Philadelphia is connected with cities llke Washington D.C. and New York City, rivalries which straddle many different sports.
Supporters groups are built using social media. This played a large part in the creation of The Sons of Ben and may be the first time a team was created from just fan passion. This documentary does a good job of explaining how The Sons of Ben created the social media firestorm which lead to a strong soccer community in Philadelphia.
Sons of Ben: The Movie is a very American documentary. It clearly portrays the sporting culture of the city of Philadelphia and what it takes to get a soccer team into analready saturated sporting environment. It shows interviews of all the original members of the supporters group and their journey from grassroots fundraising to the bigger business side of things. If you are an MLS supporter know already know how this story but that doesn’t make for a less engrossing film. It feels good to watch people succeed in their endeavors and touched a nerve for me.
As I sat in the theater, I couldn’t help thinking about Toronto’s supporter culture. Philadelphia is a great sporting city, and so is Toronto, yet there seems to be huge gulf. While it seems fragmented at the moment, Toronto supporters culture is second to none, including the Sons of Ben. In fact, I felt a tinge of jealousy that someone has made a documentary which shows their supporters group in a very positive light.
Although this documentary is made by the Sons of Ben (correction - it was made by Rothbury Roads Productions), I never felt it to be artificially positive. I certainly felt that giving a voice to Chester, Pennsylvania residents (where PPL Park is located) was well done. In fact for me, the relationship between the Philadelphia Union, The Sons of Ben, and the residents who live around PPL Park was the true story behind this film,. I am hoping that Toronto fans will be able to see this documentary and be inspired to do as much for their team as the Sons of Ben have done for not only the Union but their community.
http://sonsofbenmovie.com
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