
The Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem Hosts Screening of ‘Just One Victory’
January 7, 2025
The documentary is a moving story of a yearning for success and follows a team of unhoused Israelis who muster up the courage to participate in the Homeless World Cup in Wales. The Start-up Nation has given birth to many stories of success, but for the some 3,500 Israelis who are unhoused, prosperity seems like an unattainable reality. These men and women, many of whom suffer from mental health issues or drug addiction, are often pushed to the margins of society.
This is why the documentary, ‘Just One Victory’ which follows the Jerusalem Lions, a team of unhoused people in the Holy City who flew to Wales to participate in the Homeless World Cup, is such a revelation. In the film’s short run time of under 90 minutes, it manages to break the stigma associated with homelessness and delve into the personal story of all seven team members who, despite their stories of loss and heartbreak, still hope for a better tomorrow.
The Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem was one of the first to host a film screening that tells a story of the team’s aspirations and disappointments and their craving for a sense of community amid a lifestyle that is often lonely and harrowing.
The event was held in the presence of MK Simcha Davidson, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King, and members of the City Council.
In the documentary, one particularly moving story is of Diana, a middle-aged unhoused woman in Jerusalem, who wistfully shares her stories of motherhood while looking longingly at pictures taken many years ago of her family. A mental health crisis caused her to lose contact with her children, yet, as the only woman on the team, Diana remains committed to finding a way out of the abyss.
“I just want one victory in life,” Diana said, her words inspiring the documentary's title.
The movie concludes with a short explanation of where each of these participants are today and luckily, Diana’s story is one of victory as she’s now been reunited with her family.
Fellow team player Mike, a man with kind eyes and a jovial spirit, also shared his story of self-inflicted tragedy.
“I had the American Dream,” Mike, who made Aliyah from New Jersey in 2009, says in the movie. “I had a great job. I was drinking and drank too much. Partied too much. It was madness.”
When his wife asked him for a divorce, Mike gave up on life. Yet, he says, he still has hope he can “change things around.”
Playing in the soccer team once a week and then in the Homeless World Cup lit a fire under him and like many of the players gave them a sense of what victory could be like – even though they didn’t win a single game.
The film, which was directed by Roy Alon and produced by Stav Miron, was also made in cooperation with the Home Base Association, a non-profit that believes that the tools for long-term change are interpersonal relationships and connection to a larger community. As such, the organization facilitates personal connections for Israel’s unhoused and operates two groups for homeless adults in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as another group for young unhoused adults in Jerusalem and another for isolated young people in Holon.
Sadly, with soaring income inequality and exorbitant housing rates, Israel suffers from some of the highest rates of inequality and poverty among OECD countries, and homelessness doubled between 2018 and 2020 as the country.
Ori Shoham, the CEO of the Home Base Association said, “I think the movie shows what they experience every day. Unhoused people are just like everyone else. This movie breaks stereotypes, and shows how transformative it is to take people at the margins of society and place them at the center of the story.”
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