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The Game of Their Lives
Korean name
Hangul	천리마 축구단
Hanja	千里馬蹴球團
Revised Romanization	Cheollima Chukgudan
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'ŏllima Ch'ukkudan
Directed by	Daniel Gordon
Produced by	Daniel Gordon (principal), Nicholas Bonner (associate producer)
Edited by	Justine Wright
Release date	21 October 2002 (2002-10-21)
Running time	80 minutes
Language	English

The Game of Their Lives (천리마 축구단; Ch'ŏllima Ch'ukkudan, Chollima Football Team) is a 2002 documentary film directed and produced by Daniel Gordon with Nicholas Bonner of Koryo Tours as an associate producer about the seven surviving members of the North Korea national football team who participated in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Their victory over Italy propelled the North Korean team into the quarterfinal: it was the first time an Asian team had advanced so far in a World Cup.

Release and reception

Following the documentary's release, the seven members of the team visited England. The film toured in several American cities.

The documentary has previously aired on BBC Four. It was the first non-Russian Western film to air on North Korean state television, and has done so multiple times.

The documentary received positive reviews from Variety and The Washington Post.

Awards

• 2003: Winner, the Royal Television Society award for best sports documentary.
• 2003: Nominated for Best Historical Documentary at the Grierson Awards.
• 2003: Nominated for Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards.
• 2003: First prize, Seville Film Festival.
• 2004: Refracting Reality Documentary Film Award, Seattle International Film Festival, tied with Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus (2003).

See also

• A State of Mind
• List of association football films

References

1. Coldwell, Will (8 October 2015). "Tourism or propaganda: how ethical is your North Korean holiday?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
2. ^ Tomlinson, Alan; Young, Christopher (2006). National Identity and Global Sports Events. p. 96. The seven surviving members of the North Korean team were brought back to Middlesbrough in 2002 for the documentary film The Game of Their Lives, made by Nick Bonner and Dan Gordon and shown on BBC 4
3. Taylor, Louise (9 June 2010). "How little stars from North Korea were taken to Middlesbrough's heart". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
4. LeGro, Tom (14 June 2010). "As North Korea Returns to World Cup, Filmmaker Recounts 'Underdog' 1966 Team". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
5. White, Jim (18 October 2002). "North Korea in town to relive game of their lives". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
6. "North Koreans to relive World Cup game of their lives". South China Morning Post. 16 September 2002. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
7. "British Filmmakers Dan Gordon and Nick Bonner". NPR. 5 March 2003. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
8. "BBC Four - The Game of Their Lives". BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
9. Landreth, Jonathan (31 December 2010). "'Bend It Like Beckham' Is First Western Film to Screen on North Korean Television". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
10. Lee, Hyo-won (14 August 2007). "`NK Documentary Is Not Political'". The Korea Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
11. Harvey, Dennis (25 April 2003). "The Game of Their Lives". Variety. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
12. "Timely 'Game of Their Lives'". The Washington Post. 28 February 2003. Retrieved 4 April 2024.

External links

• The Game of Their Lives at IMDb

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• 2002 films
• British independent films
• Documentary films about association football
• Documentary films about North Korea
• North Korea national football team
• Sports films based on actual events
• North Korea at the 1966 FIFA World Cup
• Italy at the 1966 FIFA World Cup
• 2000s English-language films
• British sports documentary films
• 2000s British films
• English-language documentary films
• Sports documentary film stubs