Made in Qatar - Special Screenings
Two young gymnasts set out to do what no athlete from Qatar has done before: compete at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. Filmed across Qatar, Bulgaria and Madagascar, this inspirational documentary follows them from the training hall to the world stage, through the discipline, sacrifice and doubt that the sport demands, and captures what it means to be first, for themselves, for their families and for the young women who will follow them.
Two young gymnasts set out to do what no athlete from Qatar has done before: compete at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. Filmed across Qatar, Bulgaria and Madagascar, this inspirational documentary follows them from the training hall to the world stage, through the discipline, sacrifice and doubt that the sport demands, and captures what it means to be first, for themselves, for their families and for the young women who will follow them.
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport of ribbons, hoops and impossible grace, and of years of unseen work. In Qatar, no athlete had ever reached its highest stage. ‘First to Fly’ follows two young gymnasts as they set out to change that, training to become the first in the country’s history to compete at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, and the first from their own countries to do so. From the training halls of Doha to the competition floor, the film stays close to them through the discipline the sport demands, the pressure of representing a nation that has never been represented before, and the quiet doubts that come with carrying so much hope.
Filmed across Qatar, Bulgaria and Madagascar, Rodrigo Vazquez Salessi’s documentary is as much about what happens off the mat as on it: the coaches, families and federations behind a first, and the opportunities that sport can open for young women in the region. Vazquez Salessi, whose work has taken him from the conflicts of the Middle East to the mines of South America, brings the same patient attention to a story of ambition and belonging. The result is a portrait of two athletes discovering what it means to be first, and of a country watching them take flight.
Filmed across Qatar, Bulgaria and Madagascar, Rodrigo Vazquez Salessi’s documentary is as much about what happens off the mat as on it: the coaches, families and federations behind a first, and the opportunities that sport can open for young women in the region. Vazquez Salessi, whose work has taken him from the conflicts of the Middle East to the mines of South America, brings the same patient attention to a story of ambition and belonging. The result is a portrait of two athletes discovering what it means to be first, and of a country watching them take flight.
