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The Railroad All-Stars review
:. Director: Chema Rodriguez
:. Genre: Documentary
:. Running Time: 1:34
:. Year: 2007
:. Country: Spain
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Anyone who has tired of watching awful inspirational sports stories will find solace and humor in the engaging Railroad All-Stars which tells the story of a group of Guatemalan prostitutes who form a soccer team to bring attention to the abuses they suffer at the hands of police and clients in Guatemala City slum.
This group of women lives precariously at the end of the line, so to speak, earning roughly $2 per client. They decide to form a soccer team to bring attention to their plight. When they compete in their first match, the mothers of the opposing team demand they be expelled for using vulgar language and exposing their daughters to AIDS. From there the ensuing media sheds some light on their plight.
Chema Rodriguez weaves interviews with the women and some family members with footage of them training for their soccer matches and then traveling the country to play matches including a humorous match with the police women's soccer team. He does an excellent job of treating them with respect and showing their struggle with compassion, dignity and a large unexpected dose of humor in the form of their transvestite coach.
The Railroad All Stars never win a game and watching some of the game footage grows a bit tedious, but in the end the heartbreaking moments of the stark reality of their lives is tempered by the laughter that pervades the film. One highlight of the film is watching a nearly blind retired prostitute who eeks out a living selling condoms to the younger generation. While on tour with the team her husband rebuilds their flooded shack with wood and corrugated metal. She exclaims that it's the most beautiful home she's ever seen and is thankful for it-one of the most sublime moments of the documentary.
The premise of Railroad All-Stars could easily be turned into a feature film, think Pantaleón y las visitadoras mixed with American Me and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Anji Milanovic
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