Rock 'n' Ball

Year: 2011
Country: UKRAINE
Run Time: 80 minutes

An adorable urchin named Dima lives in the coal town of Donetsk in the eastern Ukraine. Donetsk is home to two professional soccer teams, and the boy is crazy about the sport. Dima is an orphan and lives with his uncle—who disappeared months ago. A very important day is coming up, when tryouts will be held for the local soccer academy. Since every boy must bring an adult along, Dima needs to find a dad for the day. He stumbles across an unsuitable parent in the form of Timan, a Polish rocker who lost his passport and money while drinking. Dima speaks only Russian and Timan mostly Polish, which doesn't discourage Dima from trying to get him to pretend he's his father. Timan attempts to shake off the kid while scrounging for booze and cigarettes. But when Dima follows him into a biker's bar, the two of them meet some new friends who might be able to help. ROCK 'N' BALL is a sweet story of cross-cultural misunderstanding, infused with rockin' Russian tunes. (In Russian and Polish with subtitles) –B.B.

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