Online Premiere: Back of the Net
What better way to celebrate the first Lioness win this Euros?
The day has come! After three years, twenty-one festivals, and five awards, Back of the Net has today made its online premiere on Minutes Shorts. You can now watch it here from anywhere in the world. Hope you enjoy!
For real though, I vividly remember the moment our Lionesses brought it home for England in July 2022 – almost exactly three years ago. It was an amazing feeling, and the impact it’s had on women and girls having fair access to sport has been clear to see. If it wasn’t for that moment, I most probably never would have started writing Back of the Net.
But I don’t believe football is only to be celebrated when we win. What the women’s game has shown me, and many, is that there is no need for the toxic competitiveness and hooliganism we see in the men’s game. Lo and behold, it is actually possible to enjoy football without it. Grass-roots women’s football teams – such as the team I’ve been proud to play for, the Deptford Ravens (caw caw!) are places of community, encouragement and mutual respect – no matter who wins or loses. The same is true for all the women’s football games I have attended.
Despite the rich history of women playing this game, the legacy has not lived on in the same way as their male counterparts, and only in the last five years have we seen the Lionesses get their deserved recognition. Despite this, there are still many barriers that hinder women from accessing this game in the same way as men. Back of the Net explores women in football past and present, through the eyes of former Lioness, Maggie, and her granddaughter Maya – who is torn between her final shot at going professional, and her caring responsibilities, compounded with a lack of fair access to a pitch – sadly, this is a deeply gendered situation, and one that many girls and women still face today.
Last month, I had a wonderful interview on my journey to making Back of the Net and my filmmaking practice with Lucie on her Podcast, the Reel Girls Club – a podcast all about the trials and tribulations of being a woman in the film industry. You can listen to it now on Spotify.
If you watched Back of the Net (and enjoyed it!), please do take the time to share it or you can review the film on Letterboxd or on IMDb. As an independent film made by a team of emerging filmmakers, we don’t currently have the resources for the film to reach as far and wide as we would like, so your help spreading the word really means the world!
CATCH BACK OF THE NET THE BIG SCREEN
If you are one of those cinema puritans, then don’t worry – we got you. You can wait it out and catch Back of the Net on the big screen across the world in the upcoming weeks, during the Euros season:
19th July, noon: Lumiere Cinema, Beverly Hills, LA
Presented by Sandro Monetti, Back of the Net will make its LA PREMIERE next month. If you happen to be cruising through Cali, drop in at Beverly Hills to watch it. We’re proud to have partnered with the charity, the British Benevolent Society. An article about the LA screening was published in print; read it here.
22-24 July: YouthCore Film Festival, Belgrade, Serbia (exact date TBA)
The film will also make its SERBIAN PREMIERE this month! This is particularly exciting for me because, well… I am of Serbian descent (for those of you who don’t hear me harping on about it!). Many of my family live in Beograd, and it is a city very close to my heart. So if you happen to be around the Balkans this summer, come say zdravo!
27th July, 4pm: Lewes Football Club, The Dripping Pan
From Lewes to LA and back again! The film returns to Lewes, this time to the big screen at the Dripping Pan Football Club. Lewes FC have been a big supporter of Back of the Net from the start. Lewes also so happens to be the town I grew up in, and the first place the film screened (at Depot Cinema). The film will be shown on Lewes FC’s big screen in the stadium at 4pm, after their friendly match and directly before the Women’s Euros Final kicks off at 5pm. Lewes FC are big champions of women’s football (and the only football club in the world to pay men and women equally). You can buy tickets to the event here. Read more about the event on Brighton & Hove News.
Keep up-to-date with the latest news via our Instagram @backofthe_net
Books for sale!
Trade
Playtext by Ella Dorman-Gajic
★★★★★ “Bold and brilliantly written… fierce, unapologetic and gripping, Trade is a vital and timely piece of theatre.” - WEST END BEST FRIEND
Buy the playtext of my critically acclaimed play Trade at the discounted price of just £6.99 via my website.
Spaces of Significance
We ran out of stock last month! So, due to high demand, we are ordering MORE. You can buy these in person at any upcoming Off The Chest event or pre-order now via paying into our PayPal (£12.99 + £2.80 postage); in the notes, please include reference “SoS” and your delivery address. Pre-order now for estimated delivery within 2 weeks. Get them while stocks last!
This book is Off The Chest’s inaugural anthology, which I co-curated. Two of my poems also feature in its pages. It’s something I’m dead proud of. We worked with renowned editors Jake Wild Hall of Bad Betty Press and Aaron Kent of Broken Sleep Books. The anthology was described as “breathtaking” by Amy Acre. Order now.
