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Filmmaker: Hamza Elamin Every day, somewhere in the world, teams gather to play football. But rarely is "The Beautiful Game" played in the shadow of a bloody conflict that has claimed many thousands of lives. Darfur: Football for Peace follows a football tournament set in a refugee camp in North Darfur where passion for the game is high. Darfur covers a vast area of western Sudan and is synonymous with a conflict that is difficult to comprehend, except for its legacy. The conflict peaked in 2003 and remains largely unresolved. The UN estimates that war, famine and disease have cost some 300,000 lives, though the government of Sudan disputes this figure. An international aid response has brought some stability to Darfur where refugee camps the size of small cities are dotted throughout the region One such place is the Abu Shouk refugee camp. Established in 2004 at a time when the Darfur conflict was at its height, it has now become a home of sorts to a young generation whose only knowledge of their family roots come from stories told by their parents. Many are trapped with no homes to return to as the fighting left many villages in ashes. But despite everything, Abu Shouk is also a place where hope is still very much alive, a place where battle now takes place on a football pitch with young barefoot sporting warriors seeking glory on their own terms. This film features a group of boys hoping to win a locally organised football tournament. They call their team Al-Jabal al-Akhdar or The Green Mountain, named after a small mountain near the city from where they were displaced. The team's star striker is Eissa Adam, whose only memory is of life in the Abu Shouk refugee camp. Eissa's very survival was due to his mother's quick thinking, having rescued Eissa as a toddler at a time when their village was under attack by armed raiders. "When they attacked our village, I dressed my son like a girl so they wouldn't take him," Khadija Suleiman, Eissa's mother, tells Al Jazeera. Her strength in the face of adversity saved the life of not just her young son Eissa, but also her eldest son captured by the attackers. "To this day, when I think about how brave my mother was, tears run down my face. She saved me from those people," Al-Fatih Adam, Eissa's brother, says. During the holidays when Eissa is not at school, he leaves home early to buy and resell goods like perfumes, air fresheners and paper towels so he can pay his way, balancing his schooling with work. In the evening, Eissa returns to football training where he has gained popularity not just within his team, but throughout his community. "When I walk down the street, people stop and call my name even though I don't know them. It's because of football." - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/