Marshall Islands’ journey set to become documentary
The Marshall Islands men’s and women’s national football teams will be the focus of a new documentary series.
The documentary, titled “The Last Team”, made by Anna Barbara Films and investment firm Halifax West, is in its early stages yet, producers Ramesh Swamy and Steve Hodgetts tell Football in Oceania.
“We have raised the initial funding to start shooting and we are in the process of securing the remaining budget. We plan to shoot the series across four years,” they say.
The documentary isn’t set to premiere until 2028 at the earliest.
Swamy and Hodgetts explain that the documentary will focus on the football team, as well as the climate change crisis the country faces, with rising water levels and global warming.
“What sets “The Last Team” apart is not only its compelling narrative but also its commitment to shedding light on the pressing climate issues faced by the Marshall Islands. Through the lens of football, we aim to raise awareness and spark conversations about the environmental challenges confronting this vulnerable nation,” Halifax West writes of the documentary.
They also have plans of including football legends such as Cafu, Fabio Capello, Arsene Wenger and Roberto Carlos in the documentary.
The producers are excited about showcasing the Marshall Islands to a larger audience, and site fellow minnows American Samoa and their documentary “Next Goal Wins”, which also turned into a Hollywood production, as an inspiration, as well as the 90s underdog classic Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican bobsled team of the 1988 winter Olympics.
“Marshall Islands gets little to no air time on commercial footage. There hasn’t really been a story told in a commercial context for a while. We’re in contact with climate tech companies about sponsorship to work on the island,” Hodgetts says.
“There will be a lot of people wanting to get involved with this project from the climate change angle and will become ardent followers of the Marshall Islands teams as they compete on the world’s stage,” Swamy says.
“The reality of this, doesn’t quite hit home until we get shown it. If we can clearly see areas of coastal land at risk of being submerged in episode 1 and the very same land is underwater in episode 4, you see the change,” Hodgetts explains.
“Ultimately we can’t do anything to change the situation but we can try to show it so other places have a chance.”
As for the football side of the documentary, there has already been some filming done, in the US-based training camp held in March this year.
Hodgetts lays out a rough path for an episode format, but clarifies that it’s “very difficult to script anything” for a documentary.
“Episode 1 and 2 will be introducing the characters, the team and our “mission statement”: what does the team want, what do we want from a climate change perspective,” he says.
“You can only film when things are going on. It’s hard to plan too far in advance. You schedule things four-five months in advance if you can, while sometimes you have to go down the fireman’s pole and go film right away”.
“Then there’s the training, how do we do that? There are players in Arkansas, in Germany, on the islands. There’s going to be people dropping out, coming back in, then there’s prep for the big events”.
The Marshall Islands are also working on getting a women’s team off the ground, not just the men’s side.
“Their first football team may well be a women’s team. Our plan is to follow both, particularly with women’s football exploding in popularity in recent years,” Hodgetts says.
The end goal of the documentary is, hopefully, an OFC and FIFA membership and World Cup and Olympic qualifiers in 2028.
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Great news. Hope all goes well and this raises the profile of the Marshall Islands.