So Loud The Sky Can Hear Us
Football fans often come from unrepresented, sometimes marginalized groups, unable to find a way to flourish in an environment where toughness seems to be the norm. Every day they ‘fight’ to define their position with regards to the club and life by overcoming isolation and prejudice. As such, there seems to be a fragile sense of love, faith and belonging behind the group of Dutch football fans who vandalized a monument in Rome some years ago. Lavinia Xausa’s film is like a journey seeking to understand the diverse multitude of identities and voices that are always morphing into one in the stadium.
Xausa sees identity not as a genealogical phenomenon set in stone, but as a work-in-progress that can change through self-analysis and imagination. During her visual quest to represent the diversity within the group, her collaboration with Spanish composer Alberto Granados became key. Together, they decided to transform Feyenoord’s most famous stadium chants into a complex polyphony and have it performed by a professional choir. The transition from the strict monophony of Gregorian chants and stadium songs to a polyphonic composition speaks to Xausa’s desire to outline a future football club that is more inclusive and diverse.
