Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world. But on November 16, 1997, when Jamaica's national soccer team – a.k.a. the 'Reggae Boyz' – qualified for the 1998 World Cup, not a single bullet was fired in the country.
As the Reggae Boyz embark on their 2014 World Cup campaign, an amateur player named 'Tuffy' Anderson dreams of playing on the national team. Tuffy works in a steel factory by day and plays in the local amateur league by night, refusing to give up his dream of one day playing on the national team.
On the soccer field Jamaica's big dream comes crashing to a halt. After a devastating losing streak, the coaching staff resigns. To revitalize the mission, Jamaica hires the colorful Winfried Schäfer, a journeyman coach who is known in his native Germany as 'Winnie Wahnsinn' ('Wacky Winnie'). Seeking knowledge about the local culture and sensing how much music and soccer are intertwined in Jamaica, Winnie meets the local newcomer band 'Nomaddz' and visits Bunny Wailer - the lone survivor of 'Bob Marley and the Wailers'. Bunny introduces him to the 'benefits of herb' and suggests "putting Tuffy on the team will change your fortunes." Winnie puts Tuffy on the team who promptly rewards him by scoring a last-minute goal that keeps the campaign alive a little longer. While Jamaica's World Cup dreams don't come true in the end, Tuffy's goal and his courage to keep a dream alive, against all odds, inspires Jamaicans of all stripes and sets the national team on a path to success that culminates with Winnie coaching Jamaica to their first-ever Gold Cup Final.
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from South Arts, a regional arts organization, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about Southern Circuit and South Arts please visit www.southarts.org.