Pelé’s daughter on how she came to make a documentary on women’s football,
racism in
Brazil and the fight for equality
“There are no words,” says Kely Nascimento-DeLuca, the eldest daughter of Pelé, when I ask about her journey from women’s football novice to documentary maker on the subject. “I’ve always been very into football. I love football. It’s like
Christmas, every game in Brazil. It’s hard to explain the feeling, the electricity during a game.”
Sitting in a cafe in downtown Manhattan, Nascimento-DeLuca is buzzing. Following this interview she will head off to celebrate with her co-director Justin Noto, having just dropped off the footage for Warriors of a Beautiful Game, their feature-length documentary on women’s football, at Rock Paper Scissors, the editors of the acclaimed
Netflix documentary Icarus among many other productions.