Win a "Next Goal Wins" Prize Pack including movie tickets!

Next Goal Wins, directed by Taika Watiti, is the Hollywood feel-good soccer film we all needed.

Based on a true story and adapted from a documentary that screened at K+S New York 2014, Next Goal Wins tells the heartwarming story of Thomas Rongen, a down-on-his-luck coach played by Michael Fassbender, who takes over the coaching reins of the worst national team in the world: American Samoa. Hijinks ensue and Rongen’s view of the world and success changes when the team discovers that triumph does not need to mean winning the game.

  • The cast also includes Oscar Kightly, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss, among others.

  • In theaters now, Next Goal Wins is a perfect way to spend a few hours this Thanksgiving weekend. Find a theater near you.

Next Goal Wins Prize Pack

To celebrate the film’s release and thank the K+S community, we are giving away a Next Goal Wins prize pack, including tickets to see the film, a custom Igloo cooler, and some assorted other film swag.

How to win:

  • Tell us what real-life soccer story should be made into a feature film.

  • Submit your idea by emailing us at info@kickingandscreening.com or posting on social media and tagging K+S.

  • The winner will be randomly chosen from all the submissions we get. (Note: We can only ship the prize pack within the United States.)

Bonus: We will make a film poster for the winning suggestion and a few of our other favorites. Good luck!

K+S New York 2024 is coming in March to Kyle Martino's Football Cafe

Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival New York 2024 is coming March 14-16, 2024.

We are deep in planning mode for the 2024 edition of K+S in the Big Apple, watching films, developing the programming slate, and lining up special guests.

2024 marks our 15th year organizing soccer film festivals. To celebrate this milestone, K+S New York 2024 will feature several new elements, including a cool new venue:

  • Kyle Martino’s Football Cafe, the city’s premier destination for soccerheads, will be the home of K+S New York 2024.

  • Cultural programming will include a panel and art show dedicated to soccer club crests and a “polar bear” tournament.

  • Unique K+S merch is in the works. The #SOCCERFILM COLLECTION will celebrate some of the great moments in soccer film history.

More information, including the film lineup and ticket sales will be announced before the end of the year.

K+S partners with USL on Soccer Film Night in Colorado Springs

Kicking + Screening is going on the road to Colorado Springs as part of the United Soccer League’s annual marquee event, the USL Summer Showcase, presented by Hisense.

K+S has partnered with the USL, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, and the Independent Film Society of Colorado for a special screening of BIG-TIME SOCCER: The Remarkable Rise & Fall of the NASL.

The screening takes place on Monday, August 7, at 7:00PM MT, at one of the coolest meeting spots in the Springs: Ivywild School.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

Directed by Rachel Viollet, Big-Time Soccer tells the incredible story of the 1970s league that kicked off the modern American soccer movement.

Official Synopsis:

Nearly 40 years since its demise, the North American Soccer League continues to linger in the memories and imaginations of soccer fans across the United States — and beyond. The colorful, oftentimes controversial league attracted some of the game’s greatest players: Pele, Best, Cruyff, Muller, Beckenbauer, to name a few. Crowds of 70,000-plus flocked to games as the NASL brought star power to a country where soccer had been virtually invisible just a few years earlier.

It was as if a huge soccer circus had arrived to entertain America. But it couldn’t last. For many fascinating reasons, the NASL did not survive.

"Croatia: Defining a Nation" opens K+S New York 2022 tonight

K+S New York 2022, our 13th annual soccer film festival in the Big Apple, kicks off tonight.

Our opening film is the brilliant documentary film Croatia: Defining a Nation, directed by Louis Myles.

The film explores the story of how Croatia’s 3rd-place finish at the 1998 World Cup helped the country emerge from a brutal war.

Plus shorts:

  • Mitch Match (2 mins) | What happens when an adventurous blue-headed matchstick decides to play soccer? Directed by Géza Tóth.

  • Nando (5 mins) | A poem about a caterpillar inspires a boy in a Rio favela and provides the connection to the famous Maracana Stadium. Directed by Alec Cutler.

Free Beer!

Thanks to our friends at Estrella Galicia, the first beer is on us for every festival attendee.

K+S to discuss sports films at Religion of Sports' "House of Futbol" in NYC

At 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday, November 30 — the eve of K+S New York 2022 — Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival cofounder Rachel Markus will sit on a panel called “The Rise of the Sports Documentary.”

Markus will be joined on the panel Ameeth Sankaran (CEO of Religion of Sports), Gotham Chopra (award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of Religion of Sports), and Kati Fernandez (ESPN content creator and strategist).

  • The expert panel will discuss the “the rise in quantity, quality, and popularity of sports docs, and how it’s changing the way we relate to sports.”

The event is hosted by Religion of Sports, the sports content company co-founded by the aforementioned Chopra and Tom Brady and Michael Strahan. It will take place at ROS’ “House of Fútbol,” a World Cup popup space on the Lower East Side.

In conjunction with the panel, K+S will curate a special selection of soccer short films.

Tickets are free with reservation.