Locarno award-winning director of “I Have Electric Dreams” Valentina Maurel has lined up her next project, “No One Knows We Play Today,” loosely based on the life of Shirley Cruz, one of Costa Rica’s most famous female soccer players. Co-directed with Felipe Zúñiga (“La Picada”), the film is a co-production between Maurel’s Tres Tigres Films, Adriana Álvarez and Ana Lucía Arias of Goral Films, and Spain’s Malvalanda Films (“The Mole Agent”).
“No One Knows We Play Today” trails Shirley, who returns to Costa Rica to play with Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, her childhood team. After living abroad for many years, the woman faces the challenges of returning home and reconnecting with her family, including her soccer player brother Ronald, whose career was not as successful as his sister’s. On top of that, Shirley must grapple with the hard reality of ageing and the limited time she has ahead of her on the field.
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Within that world, the film will follow other characters, including a younger player struggling to juggle soccer and her day job, and Shirley’s rival, the daughter of a famous player trying her best to reconcile her feelings for a teammate. “No One Knows We Play Today” comes to a climax with the championship final, where the two rival teams come head-to-head at the iconic Morera Soto stadium.
Álvarez, who also stars as Shirley, told Variety the film is a fiction “inspired by real events in women’s soccer in Costa Rica and the challenges female players face in a deeply macho culture.” “The film is a tribute to these athletes, following a fictionalized version of the life of Shirley Cruz, the most important female soccer player in the region.”
The film just wrapped the first leg of filming and is currently waiting for Costa Rica’s women’s national soccer tournament to kickstart, as the project includes a documentary component “deeply intertwined with the fictional storyline.” Álvarez said the final phase of shooting is scheduled for later in the year, with the project moving into a swift post-production stage.
Actor-producer Álvarez said seeing women like herself and Maurel spearhead a new generation of filmmakers in Costa Rica “fills her with deep pride.” “We’re seeing a generation of women who are incredibly clear about the stories they want to tell and how those stories reflect their identities and experiences,” she continues. “I think the very complexity that defines us as women gives our narratives a powerful, honest quality — one that deeply resonates with audiences. Globally, the film industry remains largely male-dominated, so it’s truly exciting to see Costa Rican women gaining recognition at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals — Cannes, Locarno, Berlin, and San Sebastián, among others.”
“I also believe that because it has historically been so difficult for women simply because we are women, this new generation carries a sharp awareness of what we want to say and how we want to say it,” she emphasizes. “And we owe that clarity, in part, to the women who came before us and paved the way.”
Malvalanda Films’ Tamara Santos said the company “knew they had to be involved” with “No One Knows We Play Today” the moment Álvarez knocked on their door with the project. “[This is] the kind of film we identify with: talented directors, a story of feminist empowerment, and a co-production with Latin America, where we already have experience with projects such as Maite Alberdi’s Oscar-nominated ‘The Mole Agent’ and ‘WWise Young Men,’ recently released in Spain.”
“We have complete confidence in Felipe Zúñiga and Valentina Maurel’s work,” adds Santos. “[Maurel’s] previous film made a big impression on us, and we are delighted to be her partners from Spain on this journey.”
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