Biography
British filmmaker Daniel Gordon, born in 1972 in Manchester, founded VeryMuchSo Productions in Sheffield in January 2001. He has worked extensively with broadcasters like Sky Sports and Chrysalis, focusing on stories that explore sports, North Korea, and the intersection of politics and athletics.
In 2001, Gordon earned a BAFTA Award nomination for his documentary "Darren Gough’s Cricket Academy," which spotlighted a student sports program. His 2002 film "The Game of Their Lives" followed the surviving members of North Korea’s national soccer team, which became the first Asian team to reach the quarterfinals of the 1966 World Cup. The documentary won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Sports Documentary in 2003 and received a Best Documentary nomination at the British Independent Film Awards. That same year, Gordon was recognized as Best Newcomer at the Grierson Awards.
In "A State of Mind" (2004), Gordon captured the experiences of two North Korean gymnasts preparing for a mass sports festival in Pyongyang. His 2006 documentary "Crossing the Line" told the story of U.S. soldier James Joseph Dresnok, who defected to North Korea in 1962.
From 2012 to 2020, Gordon contributed to the acclaimed British TV documentary series "30 for 30." His 2012 film "9.79" investigated the men’s 100-meter final at the 1988 Olympics and the doping scandal involving Ben Johnson. In 2019, he achieved critical success with "The Australian Dream," an exploration of Indigenous identity and racism in Australian football. The film earned awards at festivals in Palm Springs, Philadelphia, and Melbourne.
Gordon's other notable works include the four-part series "The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius" (2020) and "FIFA Uncovered" (2022). In "Billion Dollar Heist" (2023), he explored the dramatic cyberattack on Bangladesh’s central bank. His 2024 documentary "Strike: An Uncivil War" examined the violent clashes of the 1984/85 miners’ strike in Britain, winning the Audience Award at the Sheffield Documentary Festival.
In 2023, Gordon co-directed the German-British documentary "Stasi FC" alongside Arne Birkenstock and Zakaria Rahmani. The film investigates how East Germany’s State Security (Stasi) sought to control soccer in the 1970s. It premiered on the British pay-TV channel Sky in late 2023, with a German theatrical release following in March 2025.