Life as a young referee: you get berated on the pitch; at home, mother does it too

‘They think that a referee has no feelings at all.’

The Polish director Grzegorz Zariczny’s The Whistle follows Marcin, a low-league soccer referee, as he breaks up fights and absorbs the criticisms and ire of angry players, rowdy fans, disgruntled coaches and a referee committee. Off the field, he faces pressure and nagging from his mother who is concerned that he secure a better future. A refreshingly honest and unadorned portrait of early adulthood, The Whistle won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.