How­ling with the Wolves

In 1933, Franz Anton Salomon received a letter from 1. FC Nürnberg informing him that he was being expelled from the club because of his Jewish faith. And it was precisely this document that he carried with him throughout his years of escape all the way to the USA — how deeply the exclusion must have affected him.

Salomon’s story is one of 142 biographies of Jewish members to whom Bernd Siegler’s publication Howling with the Wolves is dedicated. Against this background, director Ron Zimmering creates a kaleidoscope of pressing contemporary questions: Why is my club my club? How and why does football create identity, and at the same time, exclusion? Football’s influence these days extends far beyond sport in the debates it sparks: Who belongs to which nationality and why, who sings the anthem, who is allowed in the stands, who is openly homosexual — all these questions are publicly discussed.

Fans, female footballers, experts, club members, and aficionados of 1. FCN bring the round ball into the goal — in this case, onto the stage!