Two is often better than one, as they know in Gelsenkirchen, host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. And so it came about that on Friday not one but two World Cup films produced by Gelsenkirchen film-makers premiered at the same time. "Little Heroes - Big Dreams" by Jörg Seveneick offers the world a charming insight into the city and its favourite sport, while "Eleven for Gelsenkirchen" highlights the city's commercial profile.

"We wanted to do something to show that Gelsenkirchen is a city worth living in and loving", explained mayor Frank Baranowski at the premiere at the Schauburg cinema complex in Buer. "And with these two films that is what we have done." Running for just over two minutes, "Little Heroes - Big Dreams" will be shown at the draw for the finals in Leipzig on 9 December and also on the videocube before every match played at the Arena. "Eleven for Gelsenkirchen", for its part, promotes the city as a business location.

The main protagonists in "Little Heroes - Big Dreams" are Schalke's World Cup winner Olaf Thon and three under-9 players from Eintracht Gelsenkirchen. Emre Özkaya, Leon Schollmeyer and Finn Seveneick live the dream of every young footballer, that of playing above themselves and beating the big boys. They start by beating a team their own age. Then, the vanquished opponents get progressively bigger until they get the chance to take on Schalke professionals Hamit Altintop, Zlatan Bajramovic and Alexander Baumjohann at the Arena - and win by three goals to two.

The matches take place at various prominent locations in Gelsenkirchen, starting outside Berge Castle before going on to the Arena via the Ruhr Zoo and the Music Theatre. Manfred Miketta and Roland Miosga composed the music.

"This film will be shown across the globe, so we had to show a story that can be understood all over the world without the use of language", said Seveneick, explaining the idea behind it. "And all over the world there are small children who dream of beating the big guys." A view shared by Olaf Thon: "I took my coaching badge especially for the film", the 39-year-old joked. "I noticed during shooting that I'm a good coach."

What may look very easy actually entailed a huge amount of work. Five days of shooting followed about four weeks devoted to producing the film "from morning till night", explained Seveneick. But it was worth the effort. At the premiere the film was greeted by much applause.

This was also true of the second production. In "Eleven for Gelsenkirchen", Frank Bürgin portrays eleven of the city's leading business representatives, among them, of course, Schalke general manager Rudi Assauer. "In making the film I realised that Gelsenkirchen has many exciting stories to tell", said Bürgin. "And the fact that Gelsenkircheners were contracted to make both films says a lot for the city."

The World Cup film "Little Heroes - Big Dreams" is available for download as a WMV file (9.8 MB; 3.02 minutes).