Winning isn’t everything! Giving it your all and enjoying the meaning of community is! That’s one of the lessons you might learn after watching a new documentary about four Irish rugby teams that defy stereotypes to make their way to the Mixed Abilities Rugby World Cup. Going down the field for He’s trying!A combination of complete connection, joy and belonging.
Irish director Oisín Mistéil’s new doc about the sport, full-contact rugby played by people with and without physical and learning disabilities, will have its world premiere in the People & Community section of Sheffield DocFest on Saturday 13 June.
He’s trying! It follows four Irish teams, from cold winter training nights to World Cup action in Spain, where 32 teams from 16 countries compete. “The competition is real, the tackles are tough, and the celebrations are even tougher,” highlights the summary. “What emerges is a picture of a world where inclusion is not an aspiration but the starting point, where belonging is built through shared mud, bruises and trials.”
in He’s trying!you can follow players who find community in a sport that refuses to leave anyone on the sidelines, changing the face of the sport and who can be on the field.
Produced by David Collins and produced by Claire McCabe, the film features cinematography by Esme McNamee and editing by Keith Walsh. Pipedream Productions is handling sales.
Mistel spoke to THR About the journey beyond He’s trying!The importance of authenticity and how the film adds a touch of human joy and togetherness.
The director never played rugby, but he played a lot of team sports. “Mixed ability rugby was a great reminder for me of what the sport actually is,” he says. THR. “I play football [aka soccer] This year, we’re trying to win Section 7. But who actually cares?! When I’m 80, I won’t remember if we won Section 7, but I will remember the moments, and I will remember the connections. And mixed rugby forgets all the unimportant things, because winning doesn’t really matter. We might tell ourselves that, but you know the old adage about sharing. I’ve always thought this was corny and cliche, but with mixed ability rugby, it’s absolutely true.
He was first introduced to the sport in 2022 when the World Cup was held in Cork, Ireland. “There was little coverage, so my producer Claire McCabe and I started going to training sessions and matches in Cork, where two of the teams in our film are based, to see if there was something there,” Mistle recalls. “Once we got there and met some of the teams and players, it was like, ‘Oh my God, what a great community!’” “We knew right away that there was a documentary out there, or maybe even some documentaries.”
The most difficult part in the early stages of the film was narrowing down the scope, because “there are so many wonderful characters and people,” the director explains. “Beyond the athletic underdog story and the on-field drama, to even get on the field, they had to overcome many challenges.”
He’s trying! Full of atmosphere, it was important to capture it. “It’s a great way to deal with the topic of different abilities and abilities, because it’s a really positive environment,” highlights Mestiel. “It’s a very fun and funny environment, and no one takes themselves too seriously, which is really refreshing. We hope that comes through in the film to reflect the spirit of the sport and how they view their own abilities.”
To capture the different scenes and materials that might be played during the World Cup, the team behind it He’s trying! A lot of shots had to be filmed. “We needed to be there for all the important twists and turns,” the director asserts. “I think before the World Cup, we filmed for about 32 days. We wanted to spend a certain number of days with each team and character. Then we went to the World Cup, where we had three cameras running, because there was so much going on, and you have no idea who’s going to make it to the finals. You have no idea which match is going to be incredibly dramatic, so we felt like we had to cover everything as best we could at the World Cup. So, it was just chaos — wonderful chaos.”
Security was key to the process behind the document. “The longer we spent filming with our main characters, the stronger our relationships and friendships became, and there was a real sense of trust there,” says the director. “But there was a huge duty of care. When you have people with mixed abilities on camera, there’s an extra layer of vulnerability that you have to be aware of and be accountable for. We talked a lot about how we made sure that the person on camera always understood our intent and always knew what the scene was about. And that person was always in control of what they were telling us.”
Even with the release forms, “we made sure to have different versions of the release forms with simpler information, or we would get a guardian, and talk them through it,” the director recalls. “This was a challenge, but we were really happy with how things turned out, and all of our characters were very giving.”
So, how did Mistil and his team cope? He’s trying! And what kind of movie were they working on? “It’s a sports documentary, but it’s also a Trojan horse for a movie about people and their abilities and what they’ve overcome,” the director says. THR. “Getting that balance right, like in the sport itself, getting the right balance between competitiveness and inclusion was actually a challenge, because you want both.”
In the editing process, Misteel and editor Walsh witnessed an evolution. “More and more, we felt that the matches were becoming less important, and the things after the match were becoming more important,” he explains. “Those are the speeches and pep talks, and arms around shoulders. That’s where we get the real emotion.”
The creative team had a title for the film He’s trying! into consideration early on. “In reality, [producer] “Claire’s husband, who is a good friend of mine, will forever take credit for this,” says Mistil. THR. “We wanted something snarky, but we had a debate about whether it should have an exclamation mark or not. I wanted it to have an exclamation mark. I feel like that adds to the double meaning, and it’s nice to be part of a long line of exclamation mark films, like airplane! and Mamma mia! This is the tradition we want to continue in movie titles. “I think that gives you the right sense of what’s coming.”
