The documentary film featured here, 'Mount Gariwang: An Olympic Casualty', was a collaboration between academics -- Liv Yoon, now a faculty member in UBC's School of Kinesiology and former doctoral candidate in UBC Kinesiology, and Brian Wilson, Director of UBC’s Centre for Sport and Sustainability and Professor in the School of Kinesiology -- and Vancouver-based journalists and filmmakers Jordan Wade, David Gauthier and Connor Lang (see Jordan and Connor’s company Storyhero Media). You can find more details about the film at it's FilmFreeway site, here.
You can watch the original English version, or the Korean version. Both come with the option of closed-captions (click on the 'cc' button in the bottom right of the video window). See the English trailer here, and the Korean trailer here.
You can also view the English version of the film here:
A study guide to support classroom viewing is also available here.
Summary and Background
When PyeongChang, South Korea won the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, the fate of Mount Gariwang changed. Formerly a protected area, a 500+ year old ancient forest on Mount Gariwang was razed for a two-week event. ‘Mount Gariwang: An Olympic Casualty‘ grapples with questions about environmental issues, politics, and the Olympic Games, and about relationships between democracy and the ‘greatest show on earth.’ Transcending sport mega-events and geographical boundaries, questions asked in the documentary include: what inequalities are perpetuated in environmental controversies?; how are environment-related decisions made and whose voices are featured or marginalized in the process?; what assumptions underline dominant approaches to 'sustainability' and how do they influence our ability to imagine alternative and preferred ecological and socio-political futures? This documentary is based on Liv Yoon's PhD dissertation research. In the documentary, Liv interviews various stakeholders in relevant locations around Mount Gariwang to capture different perspectives and provoke reflections about environmental issues, politics, sport mega-events, inequality, globalization, and development.
The documentary film is aligned with SSHRC-funded research, led by CSS Director Brian Wilson, on Sport Journalism, Peace and Environmental Issues, and supported by UBC's Centre for Sport and Sustainability and School of Kinesiology.
Liv Yoon is an Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology at The University of British Columbia. Liv studies environmental politics and communication, and intersecting axes of social inequality. Research that informs this documentary is based on Liv’s doctoral dissertation. Liv is fascinated by the idea of alternative futures, and is excited about the potential of the film platform to convey affective dimensions of issues.
Brian Wilson is a sociologist and Professor at The University of British Columbia (UBC), and Director of UBC’s Centre for Sport and Sustainability (CSS). His research focuses on links between sport, environmental issues, peace, and media. He is author/co-author of The Greening of Golf: Sport, Globalization and the Environment, Sport & Peace: A Sociological Perspective, and Fight, Flight or Chill: Subcultures, Youth and Rave into the Twenty-First Century.
Jordan Wade is a journalist who has a deep adoration for culture, community engagement, great stories and unabashed enthusiasm for life. Jordan and his company Storyhero Media have produced social-impact reporting projects at the last four Olympics. He is also a producer for Novus TV and teaches Copywriting at Vancouver Community College.