Gold

In October 2006, the Dutch women’s hockey team became world champions for the first time in 16 years. Niek Koppen’s documentary about the period leading up to this victory begins with the celebrations accompanying their arrival as champions at Amsterdam Airport. He then leaps 10 weeks back in time to the start of intensive preparations for the World Cup. Koppen uses neither comments nor interviews, but the extensive access to his subjects lets him show how excited the players and the technical staff are about the competition in Spain. Rather than focusing primarily on the sport itself, the director highlights the difficult process the team is going through. "Is it in our culture or something that we all have to talk, talk, talk?" sighs trainer Marc Lammers at one point. At the training camp, Koppen shows us the motivational speeches and assessment interviews; at the matches themselves – even the nerve-wracking final – the camera pays more attention to the trainer and reserve players in the dugout than the action on the field. Through this unique insider’s perspective on a team under intense pressure, we experience their sense of loss, disappointment, rage, solidarity and intense joy.