Özil

In 2013/2014 I watched Mesut Özil slice across the pitch for Aresenal in the Premier League and for Germany in the World Cup. I was mesmerized.

It seemed as if the cameras were incapable of keeping him in frame. This was like watching someone who finally gave in to their legs’ demands, ceded total bodily control to them.

He became one of my favorite players immediately. Since then he’s stopped playing for Arsenal, stopped playing for the German national team, and moved from playing for Fenerbahçe to playing for İstanbul Başakşehir, both in the Turkish league.

Sports stories are almost always more interesting when they’re 70% human-focused and 30% sporting action — and even then, that action is best when defined by the humanity of those making it happen. I love sports documentaries, specifically the ones that summarize an entire season and its eventual resolution. I love seeing who the players are both in and out of the sport. They’re never perfect and somehow that shocks us.

“Özil” is my attempt at contemplating what it means to be a professional athlete, one nearing the end of his career and knowing he’s already done more than score goals and rack up assists. Specifically, it is my attempt to imagine a life past something almost the entire world places high value upon, and what a person from that stage does going forward.