Freedom Fields (film)

Upon Arebi's arrival in 2011, the Libyan revolution is at its height. She begins to document the key role played by women in leading the first protests, smuggling arms, supporting the rebels at the front; and afterwards, when they were elected to central roles in the national elections. Arebi also recorded the optimism that accompanied the unfolding events. In the course of this work, while in England, she first hears of the Libyan women's football team on an Internet message board. She asks to meet the team when she returns to Libya.

She discovers that the team has existed for 10 years, and includes more than 30 women and girls, but they have never been allowed to play a match. It is only in 2012 that the Libyan Football Association permits the team to compete for the first time, in a tournament against other Arab women's teams in Germany. The permission to play is the result of a years-long struggle, and the women view this victory as the fulfillment of the promise of the revolution, that things are changing for women in Libya. Arebi talks about this time, calling it, in hindsight, "naivete", but of a sort that infected every aspect of life and creativity, from literature, to poetry, to film-making, and that a great number of collaborations were begun at this time.

Soon, however, it becomes clear that there is strong opposition in addition to the optimism and desire for change. For the women's team, this means that some men are beginning to voice objections to the women playing in shorts, and that if this is what change looks like - then change is not desired. The opposition swells, especially online. Arebi documents both the opposition to the team and the women's responses, which are far from simple: The players want to play the game they love, and they also want to respect their religion and society, and are unsure how to balance these conflicting attitudes.

In the end, the team receives the news that they will not be permitted to play.

Two years later, the women's football team has disbanded. while the Libyan civil war has escalated. Naama, Halima and Fadwa - each in her own way - is trying to understand what happened, and to find a way to express her love of the game. "Together, we had hope, together we lost hope, and together we also renewed our hope", says Arebi.

In spite of the two year jumps in the flow of the film, Arebi continued to film and document in the gaps not covered in Freedom Fields, and is planning on showcasing her work in a second documentary, which she calls "even more tragic", called After the Revolution.[1]