Nicholas Bonner trained first as a Countryside Ranger, and then as a Landscape Architect. He never imagined he would spend 20 years of his life living in Beijing and visiting North Korea nearly every month.
After a study visit to Asia in 1993, he became so fascinated with North Korea that together with his colleague Joshua Green, they set up Koryo Group – a company specializing in cultural exchanges with North Korea. In 2001, Daniel Gordon approached him about a documentary on the 1966 North Korean World Cup football heroes who defeated the favored Italy team by of a score of 1-0, but were never seen again. The players were ultimately found and the film entitled The Game of Their Lives was made in 2002 based on that incredible story. The film took the North Korean players back to the UK to visit the exact site of that historic victory. Two additional documentaries followed – A State of Mind (2004) and Crossing the Line (2006).
