As a professional basketball player for hire St Croix native Kevin Shepherd was recruited to play for teams in Argentina, Venezuela, Israel and Puerto Rico before he landed his most unusual gig in 2008. He was employed by A.S. Shiraz a fledgling team who were desperate to make the Iranian Playoffs and they saw Shepherd as the key ingredient to make this happen. In fact although the terms of his employment are never discussed, it is clear that if the Team don’t make the grade then Shepherd will be terminated.
Under Iranian rules each Team is allowed to employ just two foreign players and Shepherd is joined by an enormous Serbian called Z who becomes his roommate. They are the only experienced members of A. S. Shiraz as all the other young Iranian players are woefully inadequate. At first it seems that this 6′ African American, who is an instant hit with adoring fans, will not however be able to shape these youngsters into a winning side. They lose badly and often in the beginning and it appears likely that Shepherd will soon be packing his bags and high tailing it home to his anxious girlfriend. And then like in any fairy tale, their luck turns, they win matches and have a real chance of reaching their goal.
Sheppard is an affable charmer of a man who the locals instantly like. Not particularly intelligent, he is careful to steer from making any comment on the political unrest and is always aware that to most of the population as an American he is very much an unwanted alien. We see him play matchmaker for one of his team mates, and on another occasion witness him lose his temper and kicking a trash can which is caught by the TV cameras and earns him a reprimand. But aside from that director Till Schauder insures that we learn little about what actually makes this man tick.
The most interesting participants in this documentary are three Iranian women who Shepherd encounters through his physical therapy, and as far as it is possible, befriends. The most fascinating aspect is that although they conform to the excessive rules that cover all aspects of women’s behaviour in Iranian society, they are not in the least depressed or dejected by the state of affairs. It’s through their story …. which sadly is never totally satisfactorily developed …. that we learn most about how the country is dealing with the turbulence of the times. At the end, despite what Shepherd personally may have felt (and never really articulated) we learn that he went back to Iran the next year to play for another season. For him though the story finishes back in the Virgin Islands with him marrying his girlfriend and becoming a father. And in one rare moment of reflection, he says that as an African American he knows what standing up for his rights is all about … and he knows it can lead to something. Lets hope for those three girls at least, he is right.
An interesting documentary but the perfect tension building on the basketball courts during the games is never matched with any thing significant during the non-playing hours, which is such a pity.
★★★★★★
Available on Amazon VOD
Labels: 2013, biography, documentary, sport
