Football film is simply the Best record

Published on Saturday 18 February 2006 13:16

A FILM following the movements of the late George Best over a full game is among the highlights of a short season of films on football being screened in Edinburgh.

Football Like Never Before was made in 1971 by German filmmaker Hellmuth Costard, centred around a game between Manchester United and Coventry.

For the full 90 minutes the experimental filmmaker had eight 16mm cameras following every move of Best and what emerged in the film is perhaps the best record of his skills.

The film is part of the Planet Football season, showing at the Filmhouse next month, which will also see a screening of Champions, which takes a rare behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional football, showing the development of four members of Borussia Dortmund's junior A-team who are determined to make it as pros.

The season also includes The Wild Soccer Bunch, about a team of youngsters taking on bullies on a summer vacation, and One Day in Europe, which uses a fictional Champions League final as the backdrop to four very different stories set around Europe. The Planet Football season runs from March 4 to March 19.