‘Mount Gariwang: An Olympic Casualty‘ is a short documentary developed through a collaboration between Vancouver-based journalists and filmmakers Jordan Wade, David Gauthier and Connor Lang (see Jordan and Connor’s company Storyhero Media) — and Liv Yoon (doctoral candidate in UBC’s School of Kinesiology and Liu Scholar at the Liu Institute for Global Issues) and Brian Wilson (Director of UBC’s Centre for Sport and Sustainability and Professor in the School of Kinesiology), with support from the Centre for Sport and Sustainability and School of Kinesiology.
The documentary focuses on the controversy around the development of Mt. Gariwang — a 500 year old ancient forest that was partially razed to create a ski facility for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. Liv Yoon has been studying the controversy as part of her Ph.D. dissertation research. Here is Liv’s article in The Society Pages summarizing some of the key issues. The documentary is based on original interviews conducted in February 2018 in the lead up to, and during, the Games, as well as video footage at Mt. Gariwang and other relevant locations around PyeongChang. The film includes information about and reflections on environmental issues, politics, sport mega-events, inequality, globalization, and development. The project is aligned with SSHRC-funded research on Sport Journalism, Peace and Environmental Issues.
Credits and Acknowledgements
Olympic Mascot Footage – Courtesy of PyeongChang 2018 YouTube Channel
Mount Gariwang Footage – Courtesy of the South Korean Educational Broadcasting System and Green Korea
Additional Mt Gariwang Footage – Courtesy of Mr. Jo Myeong-hwan, Photographer
IOC footage – Courtesy of RT YouTube Channel
Opening ceremony footage courtesy of CBC YouTube channel