The German Football Association (DFB) in partnership with Warner Bros Entertainment are producing a six-part documentary series around their national soccer team with the aim of "turning the light on" the women's game. Each episode will be an hour long and focus on the Nationalelf (National Eleven) and its players.
Due to be released in 2022 or 2023, the filmmakers will follow the team, twice Women's World Cup champions, eight-time European Champions and Olympic Gold Medalists in 2016, until at least the end of the finals of next summer's Women's Euros in England, with a decision on where the series will end to be made based on the team's progress at the championships.
Although the producers claim the series will be a "world-first", in terms of charting the fortunes of an international women's team, similar recent fly-on-the-wall documentaries have been released on women's club sides. In 2018, Curious Films shot a hugely successful ten-part series, Britain's Youngest Football Boss, centering around the West Ham United Women's team which eventually aired on the nation's flagship channel BBC One and returned for a second six-part series, Squad Goals, the following season. In Spain, Exile Content and Newtral teamed up to film a four-part series, Un Sueño Real, on Real Madrid Women's team which was broadcast on HBO España.
The film crew first visited the team in February 2021 to build up a trust with the players before they began shooting during the next international break in April. Warner Bros insist "there’s no script, no rehearsals and no fake stories – the main point of the series is to tell the authentic story of the protagonists".
National team goalkeeper Merle Frohms believes "It’s a brilliant project. We were super-excited when we found out what the team had planned. We all have our own stories, and it came together right from the start as we immediately felt part of the film crew".
