Former England international Alex Scott looks at the explosion in popularity of women’s football and asks what the future holds for the game she loves. Women’s football is the fastest growing female sport in the world. With wages on the rise and multimillion-pound broadcasting deals being agreed, this summer’s European Championships in England are set to be a watershed moment for the game.
HEAVEN tells the story of a trailblazing high school wrestler named Heaven Fitch. In 2020, as a junior, Fitch became the first female athlete to win a boy’s state wrestling championship in North Carolina, claiming the top spot in the 106-pound weight class. The film documents her inspiring journey up the ranks and the challenges she faced along the way, from proving doubters wrong to defying the odds and making history.
Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.
The history of skiing is an amazing journey through small and big events starring strong and avant-garde people who were not afraid to break with the prevailing social prejudices of their time and invented a new sporting discipline.
The Impossible Hour is a concentrated study of Ole Ritter's attempt in Mexico City in 1974 to set a new record for the hour - described in the film as "the noblest, most difficult record that can be set on a bicycle". A brief retrospective in black and white sets the historical framework, with shots of Ritter and Eddy Merckx' successful record attempts in 1968 and 1972 respectively, and a few words about former record holders such as Fausto Coppi.The film follows Ritter's three record attempts chronologically, which, accompanied by a Mexican marching band on the bandstand, all fail.
A documentary about one of the most famous classic boxing match with the legendary swedish boxer Jens Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson going to New York to face the then current champion, Floyd Patterson.
Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.
This short documentary illustrates rural French Canadian life in the early 1940s. The film follows Alexis Tremblay and his family through the busy autumn days as they bring in the harvest and help with bread baking and soap making. Winter sees the children revelling in outdoor sports while the women are busy with their weaving, and, with the coming of spring young and old alike repair to the fields once more to plough the earth in preparation for another season of varied crops. One of the first NFB films to be produced, directed, written and shot by women.
An experimental sports film made partly during the Scandinavian Open Championships in Halmstad in 1970, partly during the Chinese players' exhibition tour in Denmark immediately after the SOC. First of all, it is a film about their style, about the artistic culmination that is ping-pong at its best, it records China's comeback into the international sports world.
A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.
In this epic story of humble heroes and Kiwi ingenuity, relive the glory and the magic of the America's Cup 1995, when Sir Peter Blake carved out New Zealand's identity as innovators and world class sailors.
Oversand is one of the first films about free climbing, the third film in a series of three with "Overdon" and "Over-Ice". Directed by Jean-Paul Janssen, the film was shot in 35mm in Algeria, in the Sahara Desert, in the Tamanrasset region, on the walls of the majestic peaks of the Atakor massif, central sub-region of Hoggar, mountainous heart of Hoggar, a volcanic plateau of almost circular shape, whose average altitude is 2000 meters, and which culminates at Mount Tahat (2918m), the highest point in Algeria. The Atakor is distinguished by its spectacular volcanic peaks, its needles, and its rugged landscapes, resulting from the erosion of ancient volcanic chimneys, which make it the most emblematic summits of the Hoggar, such as the Assekrem, the Ilamane, or the Tizouyag, where climbers Patrick Edlinger, Patrick Bérhault, Bernard Gorgeon, Hugues Jaillet, Jacques Perrier, Stéphane Troussier and Odette Schoënleb evolve under the watchful eye of the Tuareg caravans.
Stand takes viewers on a journey through the waters of British Columbia's west coast. Under threat by the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker route is a coastline of immense beauty, pristine ecosystems, and a way of life rich in culture and history. Through the efforts of expedition stand-up paddler Norm Hann, an aboriginal high school class building their own stand-up paddleboards as a form of protest, and the powerful surfing of iconic west coast native Raph Bruhwiler, the diversity of people, landscape and wildlife that would be affected by an oil spill is articulated. Stand takes you to the core of the issue and unfurls the soul of B.C.'s west coast one paddle stroke at a time.
At the age of 12, Janny, Lisa, Debby and Michelle leave their home for a sports school in the East German province to become wrestlers. A documentary about coming-of-age between boarding school corridors, wrestling gyms and boy band posters.
The 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games were a grueling five-day, 15-event test to find the fittest man and woman on Earth. "Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness" follows the dramatic story of the top athletes who qualified and competed and offers an inside look at what it takes to be among the world's elite athletes, both in training and on the competition floor. The CrossFit Games challenge competitors to perform intense physical tasks, but the hardest part is sometimes mental. Athletes often learn the details of the events only minutes before they begin, and everyone handles the pressure differently. Which of these fierce competitors will rise to the top and earn the title of Fittest on Earth?
The 2010/11 season proved a rollercoaster journey for everyone involved at Chelsea FC. The club fought for the greatest honours both domestically and abroad in a thrilling season that ultimately ended in disappointment but not without some unforgettable moments that will be cherished by the players and fans. The season began with a bang. The team started in scintillating fashion winning their first six games with a flurry of goals as they romped to the top of the table. But ultimately, a mid-season slump in form cost the Blues. There was also heartbreak in the Champions League and a penalty loss to Everton in The FA Cup but the manner in which Chelsea pushed Manchester United right to the wire means that the 2011/12 season promises to be a memorable one! Every match and every goal from this season are covered in this action-packed review.
The most dominant team in Premier League history. That's what the stats say as Chelsea stormed to their fifth title with a record-breaking run in pole position. Manager, José Mourinho assembled a squad that combined devastating attacking invention with ruthless determination in defence. Irresistible force and immovable object. Among the highlights of a memorable campaign were the genius of Eden Hazard and the flair of Oscar and Willian complemented by the driving force up front of Diego Costa and the midfield mastery of Cesc Fàbregas. Nemanja Matic, a colossus in front of the best defence in the country, led by the indomitable skipper, John Terry, whose consistently outstanding performances have rolled back the years. Ten years on from José's first incredible season in charge, the Blues replicated that double triumph by also capturing the Capital One Cup at Wembley against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The foundations have been well and truly re-laid.
In 2016, an album containing 250 previously unseen photos of Nazi officials was discovered in the USA by Stephan Hördler, a prominent Holocaust historian, who immediately understood the album's inestimable value. The album brings together photographs of a "group of friends," all from the same region of Germany, all of whom became SS men. From 1928 to 1943, the photo album allows us to follow their journey. Hördler conducted the investigation, comparing the photos in the album with other, better-known ones, the faces of these men with those of concentration camp officials, and ultimately revealed that it was at Lichtencburg that these young men were trained, a "school" for future camp executioners, and the bonds of camaraderie and informal network that would allow them to help each other, even after the war.
Team Storror showcase Parkour on a stage never before seen - the rooftops of Asian megacities. The film follows team Storror on their exploration into what drives them to push the sport to such extremes, and the battles that face them when trying to shoot a feature film totally guerilla. RCA delves into the mental and physical preparation Parkour athletes have to undertake to make impossible 'leaps of faith', possible.
The Australia II yacht crew looks back on the motivation, dedication and innovation that led to their historic victory at the 1983 America's Cup.