Beyond the Game - Richmond, VA (Umoja Games)

After creating our 9-part series capturing Umoja’s 9 year journey during the pandemic, we were finally able to tell their story in person.

Creating the docu-series was one thing, but experiencing Umoja Games live was a whole other thing.

Umoja Games has a lot to offer - it’s a soccer tournament open to all Muslims that offers great competition and family activities for the whole weekend. But when you go there, you realize it’s way more (as Nayu Akbar says in this interview - it goes beyond soccer). You feel that sense of community and belonging and, even though it’s a massive tournament, it still feels intimate.

With this short documentary, we wanted to capture coming back from the pandemic, opening the tournament up to all Muslims, and where Umoja plans to go. But I think what we captured is a vibrant community that gathers from all over North America to come together in the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood - the music, the food, the celebrations in the parking lot, the kids having so much fun - those little moments that make Umoja Games what it is.

Credits:
Directed & Edited by: Mateen Manek
Gimbal Operator: Kabir Ali Jeevraj
Special Thanks To: Mustafa Dinani, Asil Samhat