First will be Offside, which features a group of soccer-crazy girls who want to get into a stadium to watch a game. Pretty simple, right? Well, not for these girls. They live in Iran, and it’s illegal there for women to attend games. But that doesn’t stop them (soccer-crazy girls won’t be so easily deterred). They hatch a scheme to disguise themselves as men and sneak in. But as with most schemes, this one goes awry. With the actual match Iran played to qualify for the World Cup as its setting, Offside is a humorous look at a very serious issue: the restriction of women’s rights in the Middle East.
Second is Days of Being Wild (A Fei zheng chuan), a film our sister paper the Village Voice called “the movie [when] Wong Kar-wai became Wong Kar-wai — the most influential, passionate and romantic of neo-new-wave directors.” The film follows a young man, Yuddy, who learns the alcoholic ex-prostitute who raised him is not his biological mother. The revelation sets off an emotional -journey.
Offside screens at 7 p.m., and Days of Being Wild at 9 p.m. today. 1001 Bissonnet. For information, call 713-639-7515 or visit www.mfah.com/film. $6 to $7.
Wed., Aug. 6, 7 p.m., 2008
