In this enchanting, humorous, humanist documentary, we follow American basketball player Kevin Sheppard as he signs a contract to play with A.S. Shiraz in Iran. With tensions running high between his new host country and the West, Kevin tries to separate sports from politics, only to find that politics is impossible to escape in Iran. Along the way he forms an unlikely alliance with three outspoken Iranian women. Thanks to these women, the apartment that he shares with seven-foot Serbian teammate “Z” turns into an oasis of free speech, where they discuss everything from politics to religion to gender roles.

A native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kevin excelled in the ASC College Basketball conference, but his NBA dream never came true, so he travelled the world playing professionally where he could. Now his new boss has designs on going to the Iranian Super League playoffs and thinks that Kevin can make it happen, despite a team of young, inexperienced players. Luckily, Kevin’s friendliness and disarming sense of humour eliminate most of the cultural and professional barriers he encounters. The locals are drawn to his warm personality and continually tell him they “love black people.” As A.S. Shiraz battle their way up the rankings, Kevin’s season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement.