Unlike other documentaries about North Korea that emphasize human rights abuses or gloomy privation, this profile of the underdog women's national soccer team examines the actual workings of the society, and the way that ideology functions in its citizens' lives. It's also a record of two years in soccer, a halcyon time for the women as they won the 2003 Asian Championship while still fulfilling the ideal that North Korean females are “the flowers of life that care for the family.” The personal couldn't be more political here: one player's determination is driven by her need to avenge Japanese mistreatment of her mother, while before a match against the United States, the Great General Kim Jong Il gives advice on improving the team's “anti-American vigilance.” For them, however, the sport is about not fame or fortune, but hope. “What is beautiful about soccer,” says one player, “is when you enter the pitch, you feel your heart swell, and the whole world is yours.”