Futbaal: The Price of Dreams (2007)

When the Iranian National Soccer team comes to America to play the U.S. team, BABAK is their captain. He is the young, handsome face of the team with the quick moves of a lightweight boxer. Simply stated, he is the star. Babak's older brother MOURAD (once a fine player in his own right - but never having the talent of Babak) is attached to the team as they tour the States - perhaps only to handle his brother. The two are very close, but differ ideologically in that Mourad is much more fundamental. The story begins with the Iranian team playing the U.S. squad in Los Angeles. We learn that Babak had been approached months earlier in Iran about possibly staying in the U.S. to play for the local professional team. Babak receives a one million dollar signing bonus to join the Los Angeles Vipers pro team just prior to the end of their regular season and help their chances in the playoffs. Mourad is incensed by his brother's decision and attempts to explain that Babak is compromising his life on many levels - patriotically, religiously, and most importantly, the abandonment of family. Babak can never go home. Babak meets SORAYA, a beautiful, charming Iranian/American who's an up and coming reporter for a national Cable Sports Channel and the sister of the Vipers owner. The two young people have an immediate attraction. Her brother, DR. SHAFAIAN, is a very powerful figure in the local Iranian community. Although he professes to be a friend to Babak, until the end we are unaware of where Dr. Shafaian's loyalties lie. The pressures of a new country, a new soccer team, his brother's cynicism, and the involvement with Soraya all come to a head as the Vipers play the Dallas Panthers for the Championship. Adding to the anxiety is a blackmail plot - threatening to imprison Mourad and the rest of his family should Babak stay, or perhaps be imprisoned himself should he try to return to Iran. This compelling immigrant's story is how one's life is impacted by the decisions of life, family, religion, and morality that face every person chasing the American Dream.