Showing @ CCA, Glasgow, Sat 11 Oct only @ 14.15
Jan Dirk Bauw / Netherlands / 2013 / 13 mins
At this week’s Leaders in Sport conference, Olympic Diver and open homosexual Tom Daley, said that any gay footballers who came out, would be surprised at the support they would receive. But the fact that gay footballers feel they cannot be open about their sexuality, is a sad signifier of just how repressive the football community can be.
Jan Dirk Bauw’s short animation depicts the double life of a homosexual football hooligan (who remains anonymous for his own safety); his sense of belonging while with his co-supporters and his home existence, free of social stigma but lonely.
Animation is perfect for the brutal actions depicted. It enables Bauw to dehumanise the fans: heavily shadowed faces turn the rowdy mob into a Tolkein-esque hoard of demons, fangs protrude from his mouth during roars of support and red smoke billowing round the stadium feels dauntingly like brimstone.
These primal scenes of mob mentality are juxtaposed against solitary talking-head interviews in his flat, where the energy of the match is replaced with a desolate emptiness, visualised through dark overtones and dying plants. The most isolating factor however is the protagonist’s admission that the assumptions of his character from those he associates with, is why he inhibits himself. Taken to matches as a child, his situation exemplifies the power of social conditioning that can occur in children and the tribal loyalty that can manifest through the weekly ritual. So strong is it, that he actively represses who he is for fear of losing the chance to watch his team with his friends.
Showing as part of the Document International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival 2014