Champions (2021 film)

Champions (Arabic: أبطال) is a 2021 Saudi Arabian-Spanish sports comedy film written and directed by Manuel Calvo. It is an Arabic-language remake of the 2018 Spanish film of the same name. Starring Yassir Al Saggaf and Fatima Al Banawi.

Synopsis
After losing a match, Khaled is summoned to a disciplinary court. The sentence comes down and Khaled is forced into unexpected community service: banished from his prestigious job, he must now train a team of amateur players with disabilities. A task he despises, before opening his eyes to these players who are often discriminated against because of their disability.

Cast

 * Yassir Al Saggaf as Khaled
 * Fatima AlBanawi as Nada
 * Khalid Alharbi as Nasser
 * Walid Baeshin as The father
 * Maya Bakhsh
 * Khairia Nazmi

Production
Principal photography started at the end of February 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with plans to shoot for 7 weeks there and then in Dubai, but could not finish filming due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The last scenes had to be filmed a year later, at the expense of the lifting of restrictions in the country.

Release
It had its world premiere on December 10, 2021, at the Red Sea International Film Festival. It was released commercially on March 10, 2022, in Saudi Arabian theaters.