This summer, 32 teams will descend on South Africa to play a cutthroat soccer tournamentcountry against country, teen against teen. But this is a very different kind of world cup. The stakes: survival, despite all odds.

Changing the Game follows six teens from poor and violent communities on three different continents as they unite this June in South Africa at the first-ever Football for Hope Festivalan official event of FIFAs 2010 World Cup to showcase the social dimension of soccer. In the township of Alexandra, they join youth ambassadors from around the world, all actively engaged in soccer-based empowerment programs.

Weaving cinema vrit with intimate interviews and the teens’ own first-person videos, the film captures a complex story of hopefrom their relationship to their communities to what this trip will mean for them. The nature of their challenges may differpoverty, conflict, HIV/AIDSbut they are united by the international language of soccer. The film captures as they converge on the world stage, transforming into youth leaders to change the game not only in their home communities but as part of a global movement.