In Kyiv, twenty year old Alina dreams of making the national women’s football team. She’s got a good shot – a standout since the age of seven, she’s now a premier league player. But there are more than a few obstacles standing in her way – not least the fact that her ex-con mother has left her in charge of her young brother and sister. Her alcoholic father is no help, despite his presence in her crowded flat. But she is buoyed by the women in her life – her careworn grandmother and best friend Nadya – and the fierce love she feels for her siblings. In this moving portrait, director Alisa Kovalenko compassionately observes Alina’s struggle to make ends meet and determination to convince her unsympathetic coaches she can make it to the top of the beautiful game.

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