Hard As Puck

This film is also showing at our sister cinema,

The Story

The Garden Island Pirates shouldn’t exist. They’re a para ice hockey club in Perth, Western Australia – The summers are scorching, the ice rinks are few, and a severe lack of grants and sponsorships threatens to end the club for good.

When the enigmatic founder, Dan, prepares to step away, a handful of stubborn, funny, passionate players must come together to keep the club alive; Mike, who was ‘thrown into the snake pit’ as president, struggles to balance leadership with his family life. Leaving self-described ‘crap player,’ Bell, and her sidekick/husband/cheerleader Cliff to take the reins. They run fundraisers, figure out the paperwork and try valiantly to hold the club together amidst growing resentment. It’s only when hard-headed competitor Rosa-Lee emerges as a new force in the team – determined to raise the standards at any cost – that they find the missing piece the club needs.

As the season kicks off, an unexpected opportunity emerges: the first-ever Women’s World Championships. They are being held in Slovakia, and Australia has signed up a team... If they can find the players. It’s no longer just Pirates versus Pirates; it’s Pirates versus the world and a genuine chance for the sport, and our trusty Pirates, to be part of history...

Hard as Puck captures both the messy reality behind grassroots clubs – the politics and the personal battles – along with the challenges of being an underdog at a global level. It’s Rats in the Ranks meets Cool Runnings with a little more swearing and a lot more bruises.

Rating

Cast

Belinda Green, Dan Perrett, Mike Francis, Rosa-Lee Principe, Dawn Watt

Director

Isaac Elliott