A Magical New Way of Looking at Soccer
The author reviews the experimental film 'Zidane, a 21st Century Portrait,' which focuses exclusively on the soccer legend Zinedine Zidane during a single match. The film is praised for its artistic approach to capturing human movement and emotion rather than just the game's mechanics.
Why it matters
It highlights how experimental media can change our perception of sports and celebrity, moving beyond traditional broadcast formats.
An art film about the great midfielder Zinedine Zidane reveals the heroism and pathos of being human.
United International Pictures / Everett Collection July 11, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save Last week, as I settled into my seat in the dark and blessedly cool basement theater of New York’s Guggenheim Museum to watch an experimental film, I was conscious that in just a few hours, people all over the planet would be turning on TVs and streaming from laptops and phones to see that night’s lineup of World Cup matches . This knowledge was partly what had primed me to view the film Zidane, a 21st Century Portrait ; more important was the giddy expectation that I would be closer to one of the legends of the sport than any televised spectacle would allow.
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