Fields of Play is a twelve minute documentary that was commissioned by the District Six Museum. It provides a brief history of the fascinating world of inner-city Cape Town soccer from the late 19th Century through to the mid-and-late-20th Century.

The interviews were done with men in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and even in their 90s. Their stories take us back to places we may know very well, but their stories are of a different time when these places and spaces looked different and were used for different reasons and by different people. This creates a clear sense of time having passed and of worlds that some of us were definitely not a part of. Through this project we were privileged to be allowed access into these worlds and to imagine life in the past.

On a technical level Fields of Play allowed us to work with and wade through hundreds upon hundreds of photographs and newspaper clippings. We learnt how to use the pan and zoom effect on Avid and we learnt about all the problems that come with using so many stills images on one timeline. Of course, then we also learnt to solve these problems!

For more on this production visit Fields of Play.