Pelada - the word for soccer in Brazil, which is also the word for “naked” - follows the adventure of dating couple Luke Boughen and Gwendolyn Oxenham, both college soccer stars who never made it to the pros, on their year-long trip around the world in search of the barest forms of soccer, and the stories of the people who play it.

Boughen and Oxenham, along with videographer Rebekah Fergusson and producer Ryan White, start in Brazil and end in Iran, finding soccer anywhere and everywhere in between - on beaches, down alleys, in garbage dumps, in metro stations, on rooftops in Tokyo and the courtyard of San Pedro prison in La Paz, Bolivia.

Not only do you view how people play soccer around the world, but you also get a look into their lives and cultures.

A striking moment that breaks from the film’s usual light-heartedness occurs in Jerusalem. Groups of Arabs and groups of Jews congregate on the same soccer pitch to play at night. They are there to play, and leave their history outside the game.

But it is not as peaceful as it seems when a questionable play is made, and both sides are up in arms.

After the dispute, one player says, “Although there are some people who try to portray football as being above politics, above all tensions, it’s bull.”

Although the narration is stale at times, Pelada truly evokes that no matter where you are in the world, no matter who you are, the game is always the same.

Published in Volume 64, Number 27 of The Uniter (June 30, 2010)