The Guggenheim Museum in New York will screen Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno's 2006 film "Zidane, a 21st century portrait" from June 11 to July 19, 2026, timed with the FIFA World Cup. The two-channel video piece follows French soccer legend Zinédine Zidane during a 90-minute match between Real Madrid and Villarreal, captured by 17 cameras to create an intimate, voyeuristic portrait of the player. This marks the film's first showing at the Guggenheim since the museum acquired one of 17 unique editions.
The screening matters because it brings a celebrated art-world meditation on sports, portraiture, and human psychology to a major museum during a World Cup year overshadowed by controversy—including FIFA's recent award of a "Peace Prize" to Donald Trump and ongoing criticism over migrant labor abuse in Qatar. The work offers a counterpoint to commercialized, AI-driven sports tributes, reminding audiences of soccer's emotional and aesthetic power at a time when enthusiasm for the tournament is dampened.