Inshallah, football

'Inshallah, football' is a small, intimate portrait of the life of a young man who finds hope and inspiration in football, while his land, Kashmir, is wounded in a violent struggle between an armed insurgency and one of the largest armies of the world.

We meet Basharat, his father Bashir, who was once a militant, his mother, and his Argentinian football coach and his wife. All of them have their unique story, and the film does well to highlight the hopes and anxieties of their lives. The film also courageously shows the many ways in which the brute force of the Indian state impacts Kashmiri lives, taking away what many of us outside Kashmir may take for granted as normal.

The style is informal and war, but also upbeat and humane, leaving an evocative impression on the mind of the possibility desire and dreaming even in the bleakest of places on earth.