Filmmakers discover the beautiful game

Soccer films have stormed the Cannes Film Festival this year with cinematic interest in the world’s most popular sport reaching fever pitch ahead of the 2006 World Cup.

Brazilian football legend Pele, in Cannes for the world premiere of a documentary about his life Pele Forever, said he did not know why it had taken so long to get the beautiful game into cinema. ‘‘It’s amazing—in Brazil, football is the top sport but we never have any films about it,’’ Pele said. ‘‘I don’t know why until now they didn’t start sooner. I used to talk to my friends who are directors about why there are no football films. Now they are starting to look more for that type of story. I love the material.’’

Films at Cannes include Real, The Movie, a documentary-style film mixed with drama about Real Madrid, and Spanish comedies The Longest Penalty in the World and Romeo and Juliet Get Married—a strained marriage between a Barcelona fan and a Real Madrid fan.

‘‘The popularity of soccer just keeps growing all the time, across to Asia and even the US,’’ said Simon de Santiago, director of production for the Spanish distributor Sogepaq, which holds the worldwide rights to the movie Real. —Reuters