Review: "Team Qatar"

I posted about this documentary a couple of weeks ago here when it debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Since then it has aired in the UK on the BBC (who made the film), and I eventually got to watch it over the weekend after it appeared on the torrents.

I'm rubbish with words and don't normally write reviews, but I thought 'what the heck', so here goes.

The idea of a film following a young student debating team doesn't exactly grab you as must-watch TV, even if the team are representing Qatar. But what makes it so watchable is the balance they've struck between the team members' personal lives, their experiences in the various cities around the World where their journey takes them (London, New York, Washington DC, and of course Doha), the training they undertake, and the competition itself. As with any good film, as it progresses you find yourself liking the lead characters more and more, and by the time the debating comes round you want them to do well.

I always find it exciting seeing Doha on TV or in a film, and there are plenty of clips here. There are also some great examples of Doha life which you can all associate with - the students turning up late for meetings, people being given directions over the phone and told how many roundabouts away they are.

Outside of Qatar the students have some experiences they're never likely to have come across in Doha - witnessing a gay-pride parade in London, being abused by a drunk in New York, meeting the Israeli debating team. One of my favourite clips is of one of the Qatari students, in full national dress, stepping off the American yellow school bus used to transport them from the hotel to the competition. Having got so used to seeing these buses transporting workers around Doha, I never thought I'd see a Qatari on one!

Despite my initial reservations, the debating itself is gripping. Towards the end, as Team Qatar come up against England, and then Wales, you find yourself really routing for them. And learning about the components that make up a good debate and the intricacies of debating tactics proved very interesting. There are probably a lot of tips that QLers would find useful to take into our online debates!

So all in all I'd highly recommend watching this. It would have been nice to have a bit of focus on how the members of the team were selected, and also why they had so little time to prepare, but those are the only negative points I have.

I give this film 4 'tallgs' out of 5:

On a final note, on the off chance that any of Team Qatar are also QLers, I'd like to say congratulations on your achievement at the World Debating Championships (most successful 'first time' team ever), and also congratulations on making the film what it was. It was compelling watching your journeys.