"Football is synonymous with childhood and the neighborhood," asserts an interviewee in ‘La soledad del jugador de banda’ (‘The Loneliness of the Left Wing-Back’). Through the analogy between football and cinema, this documentary addresses the social, community, and identity-shaping power of the sport. Set against the backdrop of the working-class neighborhoods in southern Madrid, it reveals the desire to make films and the opportunities available to the working class to do so. Thus emerges a metacinematic narrative to reflect on form and the implications of creators and their desires. Furthermore, it explores how the communities built around football interact with the "other"—with the marginalized—through homophobia and machismo in sports. The filmmaker lays himself bare to tell his story as a fan, a player, a queer individual, and an aspiring filmmaker.

Víctor López Mínguez
as Author

Jesús Mínguez Sepúlveda
as Interviewee

Tomás Parrilla
as Footballer

Pablo de la Serna
as Goalkeeper

José Manuel Moreno
as Interviewee

Juan Pedro Molina
as Interviewee

Alex Gabriel Dita
as Interviewee

Rafael Escobar
as Interviewee

Ventura Zambrana
as Interviewee

Sheyla Andrino
as Interviewee