Join us for PELADA, a benefit for Active Children Portland! Away from the bright lights and manicured fields, there's another side of soccer. From prisoners in Bolivia to moonshine brewers in Kenya, from freestylers in China to women who play in hijab in Iran, PELADA is the story of the people who play.
Luke Boughen and Gwendolyn Oxenham are two gifted American soccer players, highly-ranked college athletes who missed out on professional careers. That hasn't dampened their enthusiasm for the sport. "When the ball is kicked towards me," Boughen says, "I consider it the game beckoning me." In the documentary PELADA, he and Oxenham follow the game's call around the world. Boughen and Oxenham travel to 25 different countries and play pick-up games wherever they find them, from prison yards to construction sites, alleys, playgrounds, and a game in Iran where Oxenham breaks a social taboo by kicking the ball with male players. At each stop along the way, the players talk with their new friends about the lure of the game, revel in the excitement of even the most humble match, and reveal how a friendly game breaks down barriers and brings strangers together.
All ticket sales benefit Active Children Portland, a local non-profit that provides free after-school soccer for kids in under-served communities.