Told by the pioneering women who participated, this is the extraordinary story of the 1971 Women’s Soccer World Cup, a tournament witnessed by record crowds that has been written out of sporting history – until now.
Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine
Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine, Victoria Gregory
“A documentary poised to change how the history of women’s sport is remembered.” – THE GUARDIAN
★★★★
“COPA 71 restores these pioneers to their rightful place in history” – TOTAL FILM
“A 90-minute celebration of the greatest women’s sporting event of the 20th century.” – Forbes
It is August 1971. Football teams from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy are gathering at Mexico City’s sun-drenched Azteca Stadium. The scale of the tournament is monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise on every street corner and crowds of over 100,000 hollering fans turn this historic stadium into ‘a cauldron of noise and heat’ match after match. A fawning media treat the players like rock stars. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the greatest moments in international footballing history. But this is a tournament unlike anything that’s happened before. The players on the pitch are all women. And it’s likely you’ve never even heard of it. This is Copa 71, the unofficial Women’s World Cup. Dismissed by both FIFA and domestic football associations around the world, this event has been entirely written out of history. Until now.
James Erskine is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker whose work as a writer/director/producer includes, in addition to his New Black Films projects, ‘Vanishing of the Bees’; ‘Oil Storm’, an award-winning TV movie for FX; and ‘EMR’, a theatrically released independent feature, and winner at several film festivals including Raindance. He has also directed several episodes of popular BBC dramas ‘Robin Hood’, ‘Torchwood’, ‘Holby City’ and ‘EastEnders’, among others.
Rachel Ramsey and James Erskine have worked together across a raft of sports features and series, including the 2020 Humanitas Prize winning THIS IS FOOTBALL; LE MANS: RACING IS EVERYTHING; SACHIN: A BILLION DREAMS and THE END OF THE STORM. With New Black Films, James has also directed BILLIE, THE ICE KING and BATTLE OF THE SEXES.
“An overdue win for women athletes… You will be amazed.”- POV Magazine
“Fascinating … absolutely a success.” – The Playlist
“Packaged with care and served up with verve… its enthusiasm is likely to attract plenty of fans.” – Eye for Film
“Brisk and rousing… With a relentless pace and plenty of kick, Copa 71 makes it easy to get swept up in the excitement.” – Variety
“[A] boisterous account… highly entertaining.” – Los Angeles Times
“Captivating… An uplifting and eye-opening love letter…. Terrifically satisfying.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“The ‘Summer of Soul’ of women’s athletics… An entertaining concoction.” – The Wrap
“Extremely inspirational and heart-warming.” – Collider
“An exhilarating glimpse into a moment in time that needs to be put back in the spotlight.” – Business Doc Europe
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