Beyond the Team (2012)

• 80%
• 2012
• Tim Kulikowski

Discouraged as teenagers by the macho world of sports, a group of transplanted gay men in San Francisco discovers much more than a soccer team: extended family, political refuge, romance and surprising revelations about themselves. The film unfolds around Jose, a gay asylum refugee from Venezuela; Topher, a guy from a middle class suburb in the Bay Area who was bullied and left school for awhile; Jay, a middle-aged Japanese-American man from Honolulu who finds love amongst his jock buds; Brian, a sensitive, confident guy from small town Ohio; and Chris, a once-nervous kid from suburban New Jersey who ultimately finds 'a normal life in San Francisco.' Themes include overcoming fear, the power of community, finding self-confidence, mentoring teenagers, extended families and, of course, soccer!