A grumpy 76-year-old engineer is on a mission: to connect the United States and Russia with an 85 km railroad tunnel beneath the Bering Strait. The 'Strait Guys' follows Czech-born mining engineer, George, and his protégé, Scott, as they join forces with Russian visionaries and dare to try the impossible by connecting the InterContinental Railway through Alaska, to the Bering Strait and onward to Russia.
The InterContinental Railway is planned to run from Edmonton, Canada to Harbin, China and connect North America, Russia and Asia via the tunnel beneath the Bering Strait. It will be the largest development project in the world and open up the Arctic's vast natural resources for exploration.
The 'Strait Guys' try to convince international governments, corporations, and indigenous tribes to green-light their $100-billion project. They promise that it will become the "Panama Canal of the 21st century".
Filmmaker Rick Minnich joins the show to discuss 'Strait Guys,' which is set to feature at the Doc Edge festival, and whether George's dream will ever eventuate.
The Strait Guys is playing as part of Doc Edge Festival screening in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and online: https://docedge.nz/festival22/film/the-strait-guys/
A scene from the Strait Guys documentary. Photo: Supplied
