On April 12, 2019, about听50,000 people dressed in dark jackets packed Kim Il-sung Stadium in North Korea鈥檚 capital for . The sea of spectators clapped with short wooden planks in a well-rehearsed rhythm, and conductors at the front of the bleachers guided the crowd to raise gold cones distributed beforehand. Down on the field, coaches ordered the North Korean听marathon athletes to 鈥渟tand up straight鈥 during the flag-raising ceremony and听not 鈥渟tare at foreigners.鈥 The race听is the only event in the country that鈥檚 open to foreign contestants, and it attracts some 1,000 runners from 58 countries in addition to its 600 North Korean participants.
Among the outside听entrants听were听, the听British snowboarder and two-time Olympian, and , a retired Olympic freestyle skier and X Games听medalist from Switzerland.听鈥淎rriving in the stadium, it almost felt as if I was at the Olympic opening ceremony,鈥 Fuller says. She and Jaeger are subjects of , which premieres听on September 24 on the Olympic Channel and 听and听follows the two athletes over the course of the week they spent in听Pyongyang in the lead-up to听the race.
The film鈥檚 director, , has worked on everything from a National Geographic television series about to听Bear Grylls鈥檚 survival show Man vs. Wild.听But he had never encountered anything quite like filming in a country like this one. Before arriving, he researched other documentaries made in North Korea and talked to friends who had been there, but it was difficult to find much information about what to expect other than having听no cell service, being听chaperoned everywhere, and getting your hotel phone wiretapped.
Things went better than expected. As the film chronicles, the crew was granted unparalleled access to explore sports facilities and chat with the nation鈥檚听most decorated athletes. Fuller and Jaeger met Olympic medalists and world champions in weight lifting, table tennis, gymnastics, and the marathon; all of them were handpicked at a very early age, after which they ate, lived, and breathed sports. Their coaches听instilled in them听the faith that their athletic prowess would one day bring praise and glory to the country. After winning global competitions, some North Korean athletes were gifted听luxury apartments and limousines, while听others earned high political status,听becoming delegates of the Supreme People鈥檚 Assembly, the country鈥檚 rubber-stamp legislative body. The Kim family praises听medal winners, and听North Koreans treat those athletes like rock stars.
Fuller and Jaeger鈥檚听time in North Korea is predictably strange. During a warm-up run on the streets of Pyongyang, Fuller tries to interact with curious pedestrians, but a car is following her the whole time. Since Jaeger isn鈥檛 allowed to go anywhere on her own, she completes her training in a labyrinth of corridors in the hotel where听she is staying. A day before the marathon, while the crew is gobbling spicy tofu in the hotel鈥檚 restaurant, the power听suddenly cuts out; apparently,听too many foreigners (mostly Pyongyang Marathon participants)听were using their digital devices, which听overloaded the hotel鈥檚 electrical system.
After being shepherded from place to place for six days, Fuller is finally set free听by the race鈥檚听starting gun. The marathon鈥檚 course follows the Taedong River and passes everything from Kim Il-sung Square to residential neighborhoods. During the four and a half hours she takes to complete the race, Fuller at last听can interact with the locals cheering them on. And so does Jaeger, who competed in the 10K race. 鈥淭here are two parts in my head: one is telling me, 鈥楬ey, the things you鈥檝e read about this country are not true,鈥欌 Jaeger says in the film. 鈥淥n the other hand, I鈥檓 seeing a lot of [miserable] things.鈥
Ultimately, though, the film听shows that even in the most isolated and secretive places, sports can be a unifying language that humanizes and brings people together.