»After the fall of Soeharto’s regime in 1998, a number of violent conflicts broke out in several regions of the Republic of Indonesia. In January 1999 a minor incident at the market of Ambon town in the Moluccas, often referred to as the Spice Islands, sparked off an extremely violent and bloody civil strife between ‘indigenous’ and ‘migrant’ parties, Christian and Muslim quarters, and blue and white collar sections of the population. The main clashes in this conflict lasted until 2002 when a peace agreement was concluded between the main actors in the struggle. However, the atrocities perpetrated by the different sides have made deep wounds within the Moluccan society and peace-building programmes are developed and implemented to try to develop trust and consideration and forget revenge among the people directly affected by the war.

In the movie screened here one such local ‘peace-building’ program takes centre stage: how a local inhabitant tries to save a younger generation from being drawn into the violent clashes by training them on the football field and forming a local team of Christian and Muslim youngsters. The script is based on true events and a prequel in the form of a book was published (Jalan Lain Ke Tulehu). The film is in the local Malay dialect of the Moluccas with English subtitles.«