FC Chechnya (2010)

FC Chechnya documents an eponymous football club run by Chechen refugees and asylum seekers in Carinthia, and looks at how it serves as a psychological and social support base in a long and emotionally draining asylum procedure. Austria hosts approx. 25,000 Chechen refugees and asylum seekers, one of the largest numbers in Europe. The Chechen diaspora there is strong and culturally vibrant, but often living a life that is precarious and clouded with fear. The film follows three young refugees in the middle of the asylum process, who are waiting for years for the elusive positive decisions. Through a series of interviews, it explores their family lives, their personalities as well as how football helps each of them to cope with the asylum process and hold on to their dreams for the future.