Arsenal FC: Documenting global Gooner support through "The World in Red & White"

I’ve always found football discourse on Twitter to be quite fascinating. Like any other powerful online tool, Twitter is what you make of it; you could use it just to follow football players, but you could also learn a lot about your club, the lives of those who live a few minutes away from your club’s stadium, or what happens at supporters’ association gatherings (AST meetings, for instance).

But every football fan on Twitter has, at some point or the other, seen *that* argument about foreign football fans transpire.

You know, the “you’re-not-from-here-so-you’re-not-a-true-supporter” feud. The one between different permutations and combinations of foreign fans justifying their love for their beloved football clubs, sceptical local fans making the accusations, and other local fans that understand that where you live does not affect one’s love for a football club.

Ultimately, in my humble opinion, it all boils down to exposure. Those who are under the impression that foreign fans aren’t “true” fans, are more often than not simply unaware and uninformed about the rest of the world, and about how popular the Premier League and its clubs truly are.

But hopefully this debate will be put to bed with the release of The World In Red & White, a fan-made documentary film about Arsenal fans across the globe. I came across the trailer a few days ago, and it would be an understatement to say that I’m excited about this film.

There are probably a number of reasons as to why I think the concept of documenting foreign supporters of a football club is important, and I could talk about each reason for ages – but the most important is the fact that this movie could expose people who might be unaware to what it is truly like to support a club thousands of miles away from where they live.

I was lucky enough to get the chance to talk to the man behind The World in Red & White, Daniel Atkinson.

Tell us a little about yourself. How’d you get into filmmaking, and what inspired you to make The World in Red & White?

What inspired me to make The World in Red & White is really the landscape that we have entered now as supporters over the past few years or so and the amazing, great and insightful things that we are getting up to right across the globe. I’m a great believer in the podcasts, blogs and to an extent video based things that are going on (not just in the UK) as sports fans and with this film I really wanted to push these boundaries once again.

Secondly, it’s got to be the fans themselves! You know, we only have to take a step back and look at things like the Asia tours which have been hugely successful to see what support is like for you to want to know and explore that little bit more.

And then in terms of myself, if I was to be honest I’d say that this is fact my first ‘real’ film. I’ve only entered the industry over the past couple of years so I’m only just starting to find my feet, so in that respect The World in Red & White is like my first child – if you can see it like that!

You decided to go to Switzerland and the Philippines and meet Gooners in these countries. Why did you pick these two countries – and do you think they’re in some ways representative of what the average Arsenal fan is in Europe and Asia?

We picked these two countries for a variety of reasons but the main reason I would say is contrast.

As you will see in the film itself and in the film’s concluding remarks, both the Philippines and Switzerland are two examples of two contrasting countries which I think, especially from a filmmaker’s perspective gives great representation of just a small selection of the Arsenal fan base, but also sums up the one love and one reason that connects the Arsenal fan base together.

Secondly, I wouldn’t say they are entirely representative of both continents – fans come in all shapes and sizes, attitudes and ideologies but the great thing is that as I’ve said above, we are all there, hopefully proactively, for the same reason, because of Arsenal Football Club.

Lots of fans have debated time and again about the legitimacy of international support, considering some might not necessarily spend as much money as a season ticket owning North London resident would on the Arsenal. I’d love to hear what you think about this debate particularly after making this film – in your eyes, what defines a “true supporter”? Are international supporters “true supporters”?

Absolutely! Of course international supporters are true supporters and I think you would have to live in a glass bottle to argue against that, especially with the rise of the ‘global village’ we live in today.

I think now as a global sports fan we are on the cusp of good, positive collaboration with other ‘international supporters’ and in terms of sport in general, football is really taking the lead on that. We can see great ‘supporting collisions’ going on with things like the IPL in India for instance and definitely as an Arsenal fan, between fans in the UK and the US as well.

Then looking at the idea of ‘true supporters’ in general is a tricky one and one with no definitive definition and plenty of opinions, but as you will see in The World in Red & White, the President of Arsenal Philippines probably sums it up best:

“There will be fans that will come and go but the fans that will stay will be the lifeblood of the club.”

I think there are a number of potential reasons as to why documenting the kind of international support Arsenal has is of great importance – but if you had a minute to convince a fellow Arsenal supporter as to why watching this movie is important, what would you say?

For me, I think it’s important not to take for granted the support the club has globally and to really appreciate how great it is to be part of such a wide, dynamic and forward thinking family if you like.

I think we are very lucky to have fans all over the globe, both in terms of the great places we originate from, but also in terms of the sheer numbers of supporters we have. For me, the club is in great hands that way and God forbid if something went terribly wrong with the club, administration being one of them, we have a great worldwide fan base who I genuinely believe would be ready and willing to do everything to sustain their club.

Any word on a potential release date?

Not as yet, we are still working hard putting the finishing touches to the film. As many may or may not know, I’m almost a one-man band producing this film, so it’s been quite difficult making sure all of the things are looking great but I’m proud of what I have achieved so far. But in terms of the films release keep your eye on the Twitter and Facebook pages for info on that.

And where can people both in the UK and across the world buy and watch the film?

The same again goes for this one – keep your eyes on our social media pages – but for those who have donated, the film will be sent to you when it has been completed. We are hoping to get the film into a few film festivals and as for our own screening night – that is still in the pipeline.

Hopefully after this, we should be able to get the full film available for general release so that everyone can enjoy the film via Vimeo On Demand. Also if any global supporters club who would like to get in touch for their own screening night for the film itself, please do get in touch!

What’s next for you as a film-maker?

The next step for me is to really help get ‘The World in Red & White’ out there as much as possible and especially to as many Gooners as possible! I’m also trying to work up and continue making sports films and ones that are Arsenal connected with some ideas already in the works. For me though, just like being a fan, it’s a collaborative experience and if there are people out there interested in working together on more Arsenal related projects, do get in touch!

Thank you Daniel, and I speak for Arsenal fans around the world when I say we all look forward to the release of The World in Red & White!

For any of you that would like to follow Daniel and the progress of The World in Red & White – you can do so on Facebook, Twitter, and Vimeo! Or get in touch with Daniel directly via email.

And if you’d like to learn more about the documentary, be sure to watch the following video –