We were fortunate enough to get one of Pelada's directors/cinematographer, Rebekah Fergusson, to spend some time talking about the film, as well as some other random subjects. Rebekah played at Duke, which I tried not to hold against her until she brought Coach K into the conversation (I kid, but in order to defend this blog's Wake honor - I'm challenging you, Rebekah, to some foosball right now - if you're ever in Winston, you can find me popping the popcorn). Read on for some enlightening answers, and check out the trailer as well.
Give us an original synopsis of Pelada (ie, you have to come up with some way to describe it that hasn’t been used before):
Pelada is about two soccer players who have been heartbroken by the end of their playing careers who figure they can uncover one last adrenaline from the game, so they take off with soccer as their passport, in an effort to understand their relationship to the game and to explain the phenomenon of why people play around the world. Playing with prisoners, betting on games with moonshiners in Nairobi, uncovering games in the ghettos of Buenos Aires, chasing myths of Bolivian Mennonites and Chinese Monks. Their ability to play soccer affords them intimacy to all of these stories around the world, where the stakes are more raw than NCAA championships and pro contracts. For them it makes the game real again. But the story isn't just their process of realization, it's about the little moments around the world that do poetic justice to why this game is so prevalent. Moments like a Brazilian waiter carefully sliding a pinny over his head with a cigarette stuck in his mouth, kids with Kaka jerseys on clinging to the fence watching the adults take each other on, guys hurrying to the courts to get an hour of play in after 12 hours in the office, prisoners playing around the clock to stave off thoughts of running away, women playing in hijab in Iran while guys stop to watch--moments that happen around the game, but that reveal larger stories underneath.Did you play in any of the pick-up games (off-camera) during the course of filming Pelada?
Every once in a while Ryan and I would get our moments of glory to jump into a few pick up games. In Mendoza, Argentina after a night of grilling every type of meat imaginable and drinking red wine with winemakers, the soccer ball came out at about midnight. We ended up playing in the pitch black vineyard, barely able to see our teammates and the goals. Ryan and I were getting egged on by all the guys who thought we were just camera people. I think a little bit of footage of this actually exists but I'm pretty sure we were all just specks in darkness....and as someone who definitely prefers to be behind the camera, I'm perfectly fine with that.
What are you favorite memories of the entire process of filming Pelada?
To actually get out and take a chunk of time to travel is one of the most amazing experiences. When I look back, it's things like renting a car and navigating our way out of Montevideo, Uruguay to beautiful countryside and spending a day with Gauchos in the middle of nowhere, standing over the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, going on a hike to pick cherries in the Italian countryside, racing up different buildings in downtown Tokyo to find the best views of the city's rooftop courts. A lot of it is that....just being able to see all these different things in 3D, but a lot of it is meeting the people. Everywhere we went people were so generous to us. We'd end up invited somewhere after the games because it was incomprehensible to them to not take in these grungy travelers and give us some sort of sustenance, and trade stories. We'd share post game beers with the old guys in Brazil, caipirinhas with the guys on the beach after the hailstorm, brew up huge pots of rice and beans with all the guys from Mathare, drink warm Fanta and Coke with the prisoners in La Paz. I know it sounds a little bit cheesy but these moments reminded us that we were chasing the right story.
How did you all decide which countries and cities and neighborhoods to visit in the course of filming?
Deciding on countries was definitely a drawn out process. Everything was on the table in the beginning and slowly we would determine what we could afford, where we had friends and family that we might be able to stay with, and where we thought we could find really interesting stories. We wanted to have a combination of soccer superpowers like Brazil and Germany, but we also wanted to see places that weren't necessarily known for their football. As the film went on, I think it became really important for us to see the world...or as much of a cross section of it as we could. It became really important for us to see a place like Iran as well...a place that is so hotly contested, and negatively stereotyped in the American Media.
So you grew up in Charlotte right? Anything you miss about the Queen City and North Carolina?
It's tough being so far away from my family, and a lot of my friends so I try to get back as much as I can. When I do, I end up all over the state trying to soak it all in...hitting up favorite restaurants, getting some good BBQ, sitting on the front porch, catching up on ACC basketball, and watching an afternoon thunderstorm. I still have a room full of stuff at my mom's house in Charlotte so I think the door will stay open for a bit.
What has Pelada meant to you personally?
I think it's pretty hard to separate my life from Pelada at this point. What got me into documentary film in the first place was the idea of capturing the stories I was seeing around me (at that time mainly on the soccer field). My last year at school, I was working on a short film about soccer obsessed college players figuring out what to do with their lives once they graduated so filming Luke and Gwendolyn's story of soccer heartbreak/rebirth/discovery was a vicarious thing for me. At the same time, during that whole process of traveling and filming and editing, I really got taken in by a new passion of being behind the camera. It was an incredible, sometimes painful, learning process that cemented my love for documentary film. Like any other filmmaker, or writer, or artist, or athlete...it was something that we all sacrificed a lot for. The four of us lived and breathed the film, from traveling to a new country every week, shamelessly asking for money from our friends and families, dubbing tapes through the night in Iran to make sure we made it out with our footage, editing all day in our bedrooms on borrowed computers, to eating PB and Js and couch surfing in L.A. to save money. I feel really lucky to have gone through that process and have a film that we are all really proud of.
Do you still play in pickup games?
I moved to San Francisco about six months ago...and while I have been getting back into the Adult League scene, I haven't had a chance to find the good pick up games. Life has also gotten a lot busier, so finding the time has been hard. But I do vow to get back out there!
Left, right, or center on a penalty kick? High or low?
My dream PK was always a stutter step chip over the keeper slightly right of center as he dove left, but to be honest I'm not that great of a PK taker. It's sad but I buckle a bit under the pressure.
Greg Paulus played basketball at Duke, and American Football at Syracuse. Could he have hacked it as a soccer player?
That's a tough question, he probably would make a good defender. I think I'd rather go with Grant Hill, Kyle Singler, maybe even Shane Battier. I bet that Coack K could figure out a way to take a soccer team to a National Championship.
How do your soccer skills translate to foosball?
I can defend the goal in foosball pretty well, but I don't really have the snappy strongarm shot that whips across the whole table. But as with most bars games, I think I get a little bit better with a beer or two.
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