ILIA tells the story of amateur footballer TARIK BEN BRAHIM and how he used football to help a forgotten community of Afghan refugee children living in Shahr-e-Rey, Tehran. Since the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, over 3 million Afghan refugees fled, both legally and illegally, to the neighbouring country of Iran.
Comprised of intimate interviews with teachers, local football coaches and the children themselves, ILIA does not avert the eye to the struggles faced by children forced to become men, before they have had a chance to be boys.
ILIA premiered at the BAFTA recognised ASFF in November 2016.
**Official Selection Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2016
**Official Selection Winchester Short Film Festival 2016
**Official Selection Portobello Film Festival 2016
Director: Louis Chan/ Francois du Chatenet
Producer: Tarik Ben Brahim
DOP: Francois du Chatenet
Editor: Louis Chan
Sound Recordist: Gareth Wood
Sound Mixer: Christian Majer
Executive Producers: Farah Alaghband, Samir Bouaoudia, Abbas Jafarian
Soundtrack courtesy of Armand Amar
iliafc.com
pkcf.com
Special thanks to the Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation.