COURTS OF BELONGING




SYNOPSIS
Courts of Belonging captures the community of Kennedy Park’s soccer courts, which form the core of Maine’s most diverse neighborhood. This story explores social justice issues and how initiatives have changed the lives of young immigrant court players and exemplifies the interconnectivity between grassroots, semi-professional, and professional levels of soccer. 
    OVERVIEW
    Learn more about the vision, acessibility and accountability of key creative personnel for this film. This website also highlights public engagement initiataives and latest press coverage, as well as current visual samples for the film.







      WORK SAMPLE











      “It’s about teamwork, about not giving up, about confidence in yourself. And for some kids, it’s filling a spiritual home they left thousands of miles and a zillion cultures away. And then this court seems to rise up out of autumn leaves and earth. You brought all that to the surface of the film by letting the players speak for themselves, and not stepping in to tell us. You showed us.”
      Cathie Pelletier, Maine Novelist

      “This little film filled my heart with pride and joy.”
      Monica Wood, Maine Author

      “A great reminder of how parks and public spaces bring people together.”
      City of Portland






      40 MINUTES IS OUR ‘GOAL’




       
      Maine is the oldest, whitest, and most rural state in the country. Yet there are an estimated 11,000 asylum seekers in Maine, mostly people who have arrived in the last 5 years and who live in the Portland area (Main DHHS Report, 2023). Told through the lens of soccer, this story is about young immigrants in Maine. The underlying thread of this film is how the Kennedy Park soccer courts act as an instrument for social justice and as the beating heart of Portland’s soccer community.

      We hope to use this film to advocate for the construction of more soccer courts across the state. Having similar public facilities elsewhere will counteract hostile feelings towards immigrants in Maine and feelings of isolation among immigrants. This film will help build a positive narrative in Maine about immigrants, challenging negative ones that have been developing since the recent influx of asylum seekers in Maine.

      The first scene of this story will be an aerial shot of the Kennedy Park housing project zooming in toward its soccer courts. It is important to note that this story will progress as the different levels of soccer (i.e, grassroots, semi-professional and professional) are introduced as a means to engage the audience with a culmination of events.

      The first main participant will be Ezekiel Iraoya, a court player since 2021 and a core organizer for Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer. Iraoya was born and raised in Nigeria, and he immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 12. He will be the main voice of this story, along with the collective voices of young immigrants who embody the spirit of the courts.

      Iraoya will cue the first main plot point, which focuses on the experiences of young immigrants who have discovered community at the courts. He sets the stage for a dialogue between young immigrants on the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion that are embodied by the courts. He will explain why living in Maine oftentimes makes him feel that people only see him as an immigrant and as having no other identity outside of that, but on the courts, he feels seen for who he is. As someone who lived in the Kennedy Park housing project for many years, he brings a unique perspective on how families, like him and his brothers, are involved with the courts. This part of the film gives the audience a reason to learn more about how this community started and became what it is today.

      The second main participant will be Biken Gurung, a court player since 2021. He will focus on his personal experience as a young immigrant from Nepal and how being part of this community since the very beginning has impacted him. The third and fourth main participants, Ian Marembo and Jules Ndungutse will be interviewed together. They will focus on how first meeting one another at the courts bonded them as young immigrants from Rwanda. Their discovery of friendship through playing soccer is a perfect transition to the fifth main participant, Eliezer Simao, a court player since 2023. He will focus on his personal experience as a young immigrant from Angola who first heard about the courts from friends years before immigrating to the United States.

      The sixth main participant will be Jon Cross, Co-Founder of Kennedy Park Football Club (KPFC). He will cue the second main plot point, which focuses on how leadership initiatives have changed the lives of certain court players. He will explain how KPFC started on the basketball courts, the inauguration of the soccer court, and KPFC’s growth into a semi-professional organization playing in indoor turf facilities. This creates a clear transition that advances the story from the grassroots to the semi-professional level of soccer.

      The seventh main participant will be Muntasir Ahmed, Youth Ambassador of KPFC. He will focus on his personal experience coming from a family of immigrants from Sudan, and how leadership opportunities granted by KPFC have incentivized him to become a mentor for young immigrants who are motivated to become semi-professional level athletes like himself.

      From there Iraoya will cue the third main plot point, which focuses on how civic engagement initiatives have changed the lives of court players. Iraoya sets the stage for the introduction of USL to Portland, a community-built, city-backed, culture-led, and impact-focused initiative that firmly believes in the power of soccer to create positive change. This part of the film creates a clear transition that advances the story from the semi-professional to the professional level of soccer.

      The eighth main participant will be Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, Founder and President of USL to Portland. He provides an expert outlook on the sport of soccer as a former professional soccer player and as the founder and president of an initiative to bring professional soccer to Portland. He will focus on how civic engagement initiatives like organizing involvement for a Portland City Council public hearing in 2023 empowered young immigrants like Iraoya, Marembo, and others to voice their beliefs on the power of soccer to create positive change.

      The culmination of this story will be an annual tournament hosted by the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center in collaboration with the grassroots, semi-professional, and professional levels of soccer in Portland. This part of the film brings the story back to the courts, where the tournament will be hosted.

      This film wraps up with a few quick words from the film’s participants on how the initial investment to build the courts has come a long way as a result of its social impact, soccer’s rising popularity throughout the United States, and the unique stories that Portland’s soccer community has to offer.

      The final scene of this story is a still photograph from a watch party hosted by USL to Portland at Monument Square for the USA vs England 2022 World Cup match. This image depicts Iraoya among the crowd of passionate members in the soccer community, celebrating the final whistle of the match.






      ACCESS & ACCOUNTABILITY








      This story explores a community made up of predominantly African, Asian, and Latin American young immigrants in Portland. The courts form the core of Maine’s most diverse neighborhood, and all creative personnel have developed a strong connection and access to the story (i.e., participants, community, location etc.) by immersing themselves in this community for more than six months, and some for even several years. The majority of our creative personnel identify as BIPOC. We are a culturally diverse and multilingual team made up of young immigrants and first generation Americans.

      Santiago Tijerina (Director & Editor) and Anthony Fiori (Producer) are core organizers of Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer, a grassroots initiative that hosts frequent pickup soccer games and tournaments at the courts. Their undeniable leadership presence has enabled them to forge meaningful connections and access to the participants, community, and location of the film. Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer, Kennedy Park Football Club, and USL to Portland are the key organizational partners featured in this film. Because of Tijerina and Fiori’s access to these partners, any necessary archival footage will be readily available to them.

      In addition to his involvement with Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer, Tijerina is the Narrative Content Coordinator of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center (GPIWC). His involvement with GPIWC has given him the authority and credibility to advocate for leadership and civic engagement initiatives tailored to the immigrant community, to engage with narrative storytelling (i.e., podcasts, documentaries etc.) that spotlights the immigrant community, and to build partnerships with all the key stakeholders to tell this story.

      In addition to his involvement with Kennedy Park Pickup Soccer, Fiori worked adjacent to the courts while at the East End Community School from 2019-21. There, he educated many of the current court players and built meaningful relationships with them. It is important to consider that many of these court players are minors, therefore, Fiori will play a crucial role in obtaining releases and permissions, as many of them will be participating in interviews or will be featured in the film. Fiori has also known Cross personally since the courts were first built several years ago. In combination with Tijerina’s own unique connection and access to the story, Fiori’s well-established presence in this community gives him all the necessary qualifications to tell this story.

      Arjo Sinha (Director of Photography) brings industry expertise and personal experience as a new immigrant who has recently integrated into this community. Sinha’s personal experience gives him the credibility to capture the participants, community and location both ethically and with authenticity. In addition to working closely with key creative personnel, Sinha will be collaborating with the Camera Operator, Drone Operator, and Gaffer. Similarly, these additional creative personnel have personal experiences as young immigrants who have recently integrated into this community.

      Including participants in conceptualizing the story, communicating ethical considerations to the participants, obtaining releases and permissions from participants, including participants in focus groups that provide a platform for the review and feedback process, hosting numerous public engagement events, and including participants in the acknowledgements for the film are all steps that must be taken to ensure that all participants have agency in the filmmaking process, from pre-production through distribution. Fiori will be responsible for this accountability process, as his relationship with the participants is the strongest among key creative personnel. This accountability process will be essential to making sure that the personal stories of these participants are captured ethically and accurately.

      The power and positionality of key creative personnel in relation to the story and those featured in it is crucial to selecting the best possible participants. The bias that we bring to the story is based on our collective interest to focus entirely on the immigrant community rather than the broader Portland soccer community. With a camera as the tool and storytelling as the mission, it is our intention to elevate the voices of marginalized communities, because we believe that stories like these deserve more attention. With collaboration being at the core of this approach and a commitment to pushing artistic boundaries, it is our intention to highlight the immigrant community and shed light on untold stories.







      KEY CREATIVE PERSONNEL





      Santiago Tijerina (Director)
      Anthony Fiori (Producer)
      Arjo Sinha (Director of Photography)







      PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT




      SCREENINGS
      Portland Museum of Art (Premiere)
      Bates College
      Bowdoin College
      Colby College
      Maine College of Art & Design
      University of Maine
      University of Southern Maine

      FESTIVALS
      Camden International Film Festival (TBD)
      Maine International Film Fesitval (TBD)
      Maine Outdoor Film Festival







      PRESS






      The Maine Campus:
      “Kennedy Park soccer community
      inspires documentary by UMaine alumnus”

      The Blazing Musket:
      “Documentarian Shows the Power of the Futsal Courts in Portland, ME”







      ©2024 The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center