The Team Documentary Readies for its US TV Premiere!
(Pat Reed)
The Team documentary which we’ve spoken of here, has completed its festival circuit and will be coming to TV’s near you. Global Voices, carried on the PBS World Channel, will broadcast the television premier of The Team, which takes viewers behind the scenes of Search’s groundbreaking soap opera series of the same name.
The documentary will air September 4th at 9:00am; 3:00pm; and 10:00pm. The show follows a group of young Kenyans in the wake of their country’s post-election violence as they struggle to overcome the ethnic and political divisions and play as a unified soccer team.
“We are hugely pleased that this documentary focuses on our work in Kenya, one of 17 countries where we are producing The Team,” said John Marks, SFCG President. “We use soap opera to promote positive social change and to change people’s lives. And we believe we are.”
The Team series is produced with local production teams in 17 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia to empower young people with the tools they need to address violent conflict and social strife.
In each individual series the plot centers on a fictional football team (except in Pakistan where it’s a cricket team) made up of characters who reflect the diversity of their country and its conflicts whether ethnic, religious or socio-economic. In Côte d’Ivoire, the team confronts divisions between the Muslim north and the Christian south. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the cast is all women, and they work to prevent rape. In each country, the players manage to resolve their conflicts, and they discover that the commonalities that join them are far deeper than the differences, which threaten to tear them apart.
The ethnic and political violence that followed the December 2007 elections threatened to rip Kenya apart until the international community facilitated a cease-fire. But as Kenya approaches its next general election, frank discussion about ethnic divisions and political manipulation have never been more important. The Team uses taboo themes to catalyze discussion and Search for Common Ground has worked to create environments for that dialogue via mobile theater broadcasts in remote areas without television access. The documentary captures the moving production of a show that sets out to change a nation and changes it’s cast and crew along the way.
The Team will be broadcast on September 4th at 9:00am; 3:00pm; and 10:00pm. Check local listings for the World Channel. Click here to find where it can be seen by entering your zip code for the nearest local station!
