Becoming Zlatan

Den unge Zlatan

L

Genre

Documentary, Sport

Director

Fredrik Gertten, Magnus Gertten

Run time

1h 36min

A powerful portrait of Zlatan Ibrahimović, a young man about to embark on a glorious soccer career. This son of a Bosnian father and Croatian mother who grew up in Sweden breaks into the Malmö FF first team, and two years later switches to Ajax in the most expensive transfer deal in the Amsterdam team’s history.

As a debuting 17-year-old, Ibrahimović still has a lot to learn. He’s often unmanageable due to his egocentric behavior, his arrogant attitude makes him unpopular with his teammates and he channels his aggression badly on the field, leading to several suspensions. In interviews and previously unseen archive footage, much of it shot during his first year at Ajax, we see a young man who’s very different from the temperamental superstar we know today.

On the surface he seems confident, but in reality he’s anxious and unable to cope with his newly acquired fame. The immense pressure paralyzes the soccer player, and he languishes in his house in an Amsterdam suburb, spending the majority of his days playing video games.

Sweden / The Netherlands / Italy 2015

Genre

Documentary, Sport

Director

Fredrik Gertten, Magnus Gertten

Run time

1h 36min

A powerful portrait of Zlatan Ibrahimović, a young man about to embark on a glorious soccer career. This son of a Bosnian father and Croatian mother who grew up in Sweden breaks into the Malmö FF first team, and two years later switches to Ajax in the most expensive transfer deal in the Amsterdam team’s history.

As a debuting 17-year-old, Ibrahimović still has a lot to learn. He’s often unmanageable due to his egocentric behavior, his arrogant attitude makes him unpopular with his teammates and he channels his aggression badly on the field, leading to several suspensions. In interviews and previously unseen archive footage, much of it shot during his first year at Ajax, we see a young man who’s very different from the temperamental superstar we know today.

On the surface he seems confident, but in reality he’s anxious and unable to cope with his newly acquired fame. The immense pressure paralyzes the soccer player, and he languishes in his house in an Amsterdam suburb, spending the majority of his days playing video games.

Sweden / The Netherlands / Italy 2015

Info

Rating

For All Audiences

Production year

2016

Global distributor

-

Local distributor

DocPoint Tallinn MTÜ

In cinema

1/28/2016