Red Eyes: A Story about Soccer.

• Author: Kohan, Sebastian
• Position: Short story

Ojos rojos [Red Eyes] is a documentary film about soccer and the passion unleashed in a country when its team makes it into the World Cup. The Chilean team is followed over a period of eight years, but the film is as much about the characteristics and nuances of Chilean society, reflected both in victory and in defeat, as it is about soccer. The film looks at the mystery of fútbol , and why it has become the most popular sport in the world.

The documentary, which recently debuted in Chile, is a testament to cycles and to the ups and downs of life, covering all of the many spaces that only popular passion and universal art can fill.

Almost ten years ago, when the filming began, the idea was simply to produce a documentary about soccer. Three young men decided to get on the field with the players in the national team and record what happened there. Their plan was to follow the team on its journey to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. But there was one problem: the young men were Chilean and so was the team. And Chile did not go to the World Cup. It stayed in Latin America along with Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, and all the other forgotten teams, while the usual powerhouses packed their bags and went to Europe.

After four years of shooting, all the work and all the hopes had turned into nothing but doubts and debts. At that point, it was a documentary with no money and no story to tell, except the story of failure.

It was then, that some light shone in the midst of the pain. The only alternative was to portray Chile as it was, to search for our identity amidst the tears, to get to know ourselves, ask ourselves questions, portray ourselves as we were: defeated.

That's how Ojos rojos was born. It became an anatomy of pain and the genealogy of being Chilean; but of course, it was also about the eternal quest for the goal.

The elimination rounds had led back to the place where everything had started hundreds of years ago. So the goal was to get back to our origins--back to Africa, so to speak. And at that point, nothing was very clear for the three young filmmakers. The future was uncertain and reality had that glazed feel that comes from looking through teary eyes. That's when they decided to ask their neighbors for help. In order to understand Chile and see it with some perspective, they decided to look at themselves through the eyes of Peruvians, Bolivians, Paraguayans, Argentines, Brazilians, and Colombians.

Little by little, soccer stopped being just...