Ragnhild Ekner: Ultras

Sorry, dear reader, I have to go to the box with superlatives. Again. You might argue that I always do so, and indeed this was what Allan Berg and I agreed upon, when we started this film blog: We don’t take time to write about bad films, well sometimes we have been a bit critical, but as a general rule – we have been writing about films we like. And I intend to keep this line after Allan is no longer here…

In this case I am happy to express my full enthusiasm. The film by Swedish Ragnhild Ekner is unique. Not only does it give a completely different picture of the ultras – around the world, what an achievement! – but the way it does it as a Film is so convincing!

Let me start with Ekner’s commentary through the whole film. It is not a wall-to-wall speak, it comes when needed, it is so well written, sometimes almost as a poem, sometimes informative, sometimes very personal, she is a supporter herself and she has been there, on the stadium with friends, yes friendship is a word that comes back again and again, in the images where the ultras meet, where they make their banners, where they sing, where they are involved in confrontations with the police. Ekner speaks and lets ultras from the countries, she has filmed in, express diverse opinions and impressions around the phenomenon.

The Polish talks about the reaction from the PiS government and the police. An Indonesian young woman (you don’t see any of those speaking, they are anonymous) talks about the women going together having established their own group, maybe the part from Indonesia is the one that stands out, but also the Egyptian is strong, a man talks about how the ultras joined the revolution confronting the military… And the Italian, and the English where the director has visited a non-league club, not the Premier League, and Sweden of course.

I could go on praising the film that has a, yes, let me say fantastic composed music score that fits the sequences perfectly. No complaints about camera work and editing.

To conclude, thanks for giving me and a huge audience I guess and hope, a superb cinematic experience!

Sweden, Finland and Denmark, 2025, 89 mins.