Kicking + Screening

Football film festival Kicking + Screening pitches up in Liverpool next week having premiered in NYC.

As with most ventures, Kicking + Screening got off to an auspicious start; a blind date between two soccer fans and plenty of tequila to ease the awkward atmosphere. As the evening wore on - Greg (Lalas, brother of the former USA international Alexi) didn't say whether it was going particularly well or not - his date, Rachel Markus, mentioned an idea she'd had whilst living in London: a football film festival. The date itself did not lead to any romantic embraces or eternal happiness - much to the dismay of their friends, who no doubt saw them as a match made in heaven. It did, however, lead to the inaugural festival, celebrating the presence of football (soccer) in film, which premiered in New York during July 2009. Greg takes up the story: "She was very nervous about what it would be, whereas I'm one of those people who will say, 'Just try it, who cares what it is?' And we said: 'if it's twenty people sat in our living room and we call it a film festival, then that's what it is'." Twenty, it turned out, would be a gross underestimation of the New Yorkers' interest in the festival. Owing much to the soccer-culture abound in the city, which, like our own, orbits around bars and pubs, Greg and Rachel set about asking several local watering holes if they'd be interested. They were, and the ensuing festival was, in Greg's own words, 'a rousing success'. Just two years later and with another New York event under their belts, as well as sojourns to Washington DC, Houston, North Adams, Mass, Amsterdam, London and India, the Kicking + Screening bandwagon is rolling into Liverpool as part of the upcoming Liverpool Sound City festival. From Robbie Fowler through to The Beatles, the city is almost inseparable from its musical and footballing roots. Despite a worrying, sometimes ridiculous relationship between the two - think Diamond Lights and Outstanding - they have always stood proudly side-by-side in the history of Liverpool, which makes it all the more galling that it has taken this long for the two to join together. "In the wake of the London festival," Greg continues, "there was a lot of buzz in the UK and we received a lot of feedback about the festival. We were then approached by someone in Liverpool who put us in touch with the Sound City folk who at the time were trying to put together some sort of football element to their music festival...it was all a nice serendipity." And with that, it arrived. Bringing across three films (Argentina Futbol Club, Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the NY Cosmos and The Last Proletarians of Football) the festival will take in Liverpool's Camp and Furnace from May 17-19 for a three-night stint; and despite the palpable excitement surrounding the screenings, Greg's response as to what he is looking forward to most about visiting Liverpool is unequivocal: "Honestly, I'm looking forward to standing in front of Anfield. "They talk about cathedrals of football around the world and I think that Anfield is one of them. Just to kind of feel it, you know; how sometimes the way you do when you walk into some of the other renowned stadiums around the world." With its almost benevolent aura, Greg's anticipation at visiting Anfield is understandable - if not agreeable, being an Evertonian myself. He is hasten to add, however, that he is also looking forward to seeing Goodison Park, a stadium that he feels harks back to a bygone era