Copa 71 (PG)
Directed by James Erskine and Rachel Ramsay 
★★★★

 
IN 1971 Mexico hosted the first-ever Women’s World Cup, televised and witnessed by record crowds, but which has been buried for over 50 years and erased from history. This is why this is the greatest sporting story you have never heard of and a fitting one for International Women’s Day. 

It is told by the pioneering women who took part in this historic football tournament which Mexico staged in defiance of Fifa. Teams flocked from around the globe to take part in a bursting-to-capacity Azteca Stadium.

Co-written and directed by James Erskine and Rachel Ramsay, with Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers, this is a remarkable and jaw-dropping documentary which features archive footage of the women’s matches not seen since 1971 and which makes for riveting viewing — and I am not a fan of football.

Former players from England, France, Italy, Denmark, Mexico and Argentina speak frankly and candidly for the first time in 52 years about the ’71 World Cup and the backlash they received in the aftermath.

Carol Wilson, the England captain, describes how they were welcomed by the Mexicans with open arms and treated like rock stars. Yet on returning home they were largely ignored or ridiculed and, more importantly, they were banned from playing football. 

Following the roaring success of Copa ’71, which was reported on globally, the film shows how a threatened Fifa stepped in to put a stop to women’s football.

“The immediate reaction is like all wounded men: negative, violent and aggressive,” states historian David Goldblatt.   

The misogyny, sexism and injustices these young female players, who laid the ground for women’s football today, were subjected to is shocking. Hopefully this will help redress the balance and restore the Women’s World Cup to its rightful place in history. 

Out in cinemas today.

Vindication Swim (PG) 
Directed by Elliott Hasler
★★

 
THIS FILM recounts the inspirational story of Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to swim the Channel, and whose trailblazing exploits (once again) have been lost to history. 

In October 1927 Gleitze (Kirsten Callaghan), a typist and the daughter of German immigrants, finally succeeded in her eighth attempt to cross from France to England. She was then forced two weeks later to do it once more following a hoax scandal. 

Three years in the making, this is an ambitious film, written and directed by Elliott Hasler, which pays homage to this remarkable working-class woman who was self-supporting due to a lack of sponsorship.

It illustrates the unbelievable sexism and misogyny she faced as a single woman in her quest to be taken seriously as an athlete.

Shot primarily in black and white, it is the swim scenes filmed in colour in the English Channel which bring this film to life and submerge the audience in the sea alongside her. And kudos to Callaghan for performing all the swimming sequences herself. 

The rest of the biopic is a damp squib as it feels very flat in tone and delivery, failing to muster any passion or tension, and it doesn’t do justice to Gleitze or her awe-inspiring exploits.  

Out in cinemas today.
 

Frida (12A)
Directed by Carla Gutierrez
★★★

THE life and work of the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is revealed through her very own words for the first time in this visually arresting documentary and directorial debut from Carla Gutierrez.

Fernanda Echevarria voices Kahlo’s thoughts as drawn from her diaries, letters and essays which are brought vividly to life by the haunting animation of her distinctive and unique artwork, along with archive film footage of Kahlo herself. 

This is a wonderful introduction to Kahlo for those that know little about her. She provides a personal insight into the devastating bus crash which shattered her spine, sparking lifelong health issues, her love of painting and her tumultuous relationship and marriage to renowned artist Diego Rivera. 

After umpteen documentaries and a feature film starring Salma Hayek, this version of Kahlo paints one of the most intimate portraits of the artist in her own thoughts. 

Out in cinemas today.

High & Low: John Galliano (15)
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
★★★

 
HAILED as the best of his generation, the meteoric rise and equally staggering fall of disgraced fashion designer John Galliano is chronicled in this riveting documentary by Kevin Macdonald. 

Is this just a puff piece and cynical move to rehabilitate Galliano’s shattered reputation and bring him back to the lucrative fashion fold? Or can he really be redeemed following his shocking anti-semitic and racist insults caught on video in 2011? His still traumatised victim says no, and refuses to forgive him on camera. 

Born in Gibraltar to a Spanish mother and an English father who took him to live to south London from the age of six, the film reminds us what a creative genius and force of nature this son of a plumber was back in the 1980s and ’90s. 

Macdonald speaks to Galliano and his closest friends and family, including Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell as well as Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz and Anna Wintour, as he examines the overwhelming industry pressures he faced and his subsequent alcohol and drug addictions. 

This is fascinating but disturbing. 

Out in cinemas today.