A documentary about a Dundee American football team dubbed the “worst in the UK” will be screened at the DCA in August.
Bend Don’t Break follows the story of the Dundee Hurricanes, an amateur team who haven’t won a single game in over two years.
Producer/director Alex Herron, from Kirkcaldy, explained that his film explores the life stories of the players and their motivations for playing for the “underdog”.
He said: “My inspiration for the documentary was Friday night Lights, which is an American show about a high school football team.
“I was looking around for ideas in the UK and at first I didn’t even know American football existed here.
“I then did some digging around and found the Dundee Hurricanes.
“Their story was interesting, as they’ve got players who are American and also ones from Dundee, so it’s a real culture mix.
“One of the players is also a police officer and owns a cheesecake business, and he fits in his training around that. The other players are similar — they all squeeze in practice alongside work, family commitments and other interests.
“The film has a fair bit of humour in it, it’s about the absurdity of the situation and about supporting the underdog.”
American football in Dundee dates back to the 1980s with the founding of the amateur team, the Dundee Whalers.
Later a youth team known as the Dundee Storm was created and after its dissolution — and when the players became old enough to play senior football — the Dundee Hurricanes were formed in 2002.
Rising costs, unreliable training attendances and frequent injuries are just some of the problems facing the team that are explored in the documentary.
Bend Don’t Break will have a one-off special screening with a Q&A with Alex at the DCA on August 25 at 1pm.
