Vienna, Austria
Mission Title: Ballers – Eurocup Championship 2008
Mission By: Federico Borghi, Valentino Venturato
Mission Finished on Date: 26-06-2008
SCRIPT
- Go to Vienna for the waning days of Eurocup and tape the city preparing for the championship, the drunken yokels with their faces painted the color of the national team flag the street to passing VIP in black
- windowed armored luxury sedans. Show the city in a state of flux.
- Bring a camera into the odd parties and festivities that mark an upper echelon of football fans, what goes on there, how do people interact, how does the scene form itself.
- Both in the street, in the stadium, and in the parties, talk to people about the football match and how its affected the city.
TRAVEL BAG
How does class change the experience in a city hosting a major international event?
Football traditionally has a democratic appeal. In countries that care about football, everybody from the lowest laborer to the wealthiest aristocrat (or would-be aristocrat) follows the national team. This populist persuasion has made the economics of football as an industry, a little less than democratic, with footballers and their investors making enormous amounts of money. And thus football culture at its highest level is limited to the most wealthy with its own array of well-placed seats near the field at the most important matches, champagne receptions, and the many accoutrements of wealth and access normal to a class only a few of us have seen outside Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
Along with fans from every class and persuasion, this culture gathers for the waning days of the European Football Championship in Vienna, the elite class of football fans sit in the best seats and go to the best (this might be relative) parties reserved for Very Important People. Access to these events, as could be expected, is limited. On one level, the scene as a space of influence is fascinating to explore its rights, rituals, and habits; on the other, the Eurocup has its own special appeal in terms of documentation with the implicit transformation that comes when a major international football championship lands in a city, with its whirlwind of activity, a froth of commerce and national pride.
