Football From Below – A Season with Genclikspor Recklinghausen

Original title Weltklasse Kreisklasse – Eine Saison bei Genclikspor Recklinghausen

“Football From Below” gives an insight in the world of Genclikspor, a Turkish football club, situated in Recklinghausen (Ruhr-Valley, Germany). This area shows all assumed symptoms of an underdeveloped neighborhood: abandoned storefronts, decrepit buildings and a high proportion of migrants. But they do not just bring kebab stands but breeze fresh life into the neighborhood – above all else through “their” football club. The spotlight is not primarily on sporting events and developments. It rather focuses on club life off the pitch. Here we meet Marko, general manager living 100% for “his” club; Rahim, seeking for a regular position in the team and for a way to propose to his girlfriend; and Canan who is responsible for passing on math and German in the club and not just football skills. This film accompanies these and other protagonists in and around the club over the course of a season.

Author/s Daniel Huhn

Daniel Huhn, born in 1985, grew up in the Ruhr Valley. After graduating from secondary school, he began to work for the WDR at the department of camera and sound. Between 2005 and 2010 he studied History and Politics at the University of Münster focusing on migration research and social identy. Besides his studies he worked as a radio and video journalist for different broadcasting stations, foundations and public institutions. As student he conducted a research project on foundational motives of turkish orientated football clubs in Germany. Following the insight, he started to work on his first documentary feature Football From Below (Weltklasse Kreisklasse – Eine Saison bei Genclikspor Recklinghausen). To develop this film he took part in the Masterschool Dokumentarfilm with Horst Herz. Since 2012 he is lecturer for Film and Video at the University of Münster.

Research Daniel Huhn
Photography Klaus Betzl
Sound Stefan Fendrich
Editing Julian Isfort