Closing the Gap: Hockey in North Korea

A Vancouver-based documentary team is granted unprecedented access to North Korea’s national ice hockey squad as they prepare to compete in an international tournament in New Zealand. This is the first recorded account of foreign nationals gaining access to any North Korean sports club, with the filmmakers capturing every conceivable aspect of the team’s gruelling journey over a two-year period. On camera, the team are uniform in their commitment to the party line: bringing glory to their supreme ruler, Kim Jong Un. But as the competition begins, some façades begin to crack. At a marked physical disadvantage, coming up short with antiquated equipment and with some players sustaining serious injuries at perilously early stages, their prospects of success appear bleak, and defeat is not an option these athletes can easily entertain. A fascinating and at times almost poetic look behind the iron curtain that is North Korea, through the lens of Canada’s favourite sport. (Whistler Film Festival)