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No Place For Football Review

By Neil Danner

With the World Cup right around the corner, it's the perfect time to dive into the new documentary, "No Place For Football." While the world is training its eyes on mainland North America, directors Brandon Scott Smith and Derek Sullivan Smith take us on a pitstop to the depths of amateur football on Greenland, the continent's largest island. The documentary follows B-67, a football team from Greenland's capital city Nuuk, as they battle to regain the domestic title in a one-week tournament - a definite contrast to the almost six weeks needed for the World Cup.

With the extreme weather conditions in Greenland, the competition is broken down into regional qualifiers that culminate in the one-week winner take all championship. We start out meeting various members of B-67 as they make their final preparations before departing for the tournament in Ilulissat, Greenland's third largest city - and a place where, if Wikipedia can be believed, there are almost as many sled dogs as people. Directors Brandon and Derek are able to show some of the types of difficulties facing amateur players across the world as one of the club's starters discusses how he was unable to make the final training session before leaving for the tournament as he was working overtime so that he could afford the trip.

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This is almost immediately followed by the unique struggles of playing football in Greenland, as the logistics of eight teams trying to convene in one location are laid bare. As there are no roads between the main towns in Greenland, all the teams either need to boat or fly in. Our protagonists from B-67 must split into three groups for their flights, all of which arrive late and on different days - two of them after the club's first match, leading the team to play through the challenge of being one man down.

With the lightest of touches, Brandon and Derek display the unique beauty of a part of the world most of us will never get to see, while connecting it to something we are all familiar with: pursuing our dreams and passions in the little free time we have. There are no multi-million dollar sponsorships here, no sixty-thousand person stadiums, just an all-weather pitch surrounded by snow with twenty-two people giving their all to win a trophy most of the world has never heard of.

This is not a dry documentary giving the history of football in Greenland. Instead, it is a passionate and focused sports story that is immersed in the vibes of a small football club in a brief window of time, and it is all the better for it. The World Cup is considered by many to be the pinnacle of football, and fans all over the world are looking forward to it. In the runup, you should absolutely watch "No Place for Football" as it is perfect preparation, reminding us that this truly is the world's game - even in a unique part of the world where it is only gets above freezing for one month a year.

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What did you think?

Movie title No Place For Football
Release year
MPAA Rating NR
Our rating
Summary This documentary about the unique challenges facing Greenland’s amateur football teams will immerse you in the vibes of a small sports club, and the contrast makes for excellent watching in the run up to the World Cup.
View all articles by Neil Danner
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