Directed by Alberto Isaac • 1969 • Mexico
Mexican former Olympic swimmer Alberto Isaac's record of the Mexico City Olympic Games is a celebration not of national achievement (very few national anthems are heard during the film), but of individual heroism. This thoughtful and comprehensive film bristles with offbeat moments, such as underwater shots of the violence and cheating during the water polo matches. The film also yields iconic images, like Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos, on the winners' podium for the 200 meters, their heads bowed, raising clenched, black-gloved fists to the sky in a dramatic gesture of black power and, as Smith has said, of frustration.
Up Next in 100 Years of Olympic Films: 1912–2012
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Sapporo Winter Olympics
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda • 1972 • Japan
Masahiro Shinoda's interest in sports and experience as an athlete, he was a long-distance runner, made him an ideal choice to direct the official film of the XI Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972. His work is marked by its gravitas, and this can be fel...
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Visions of Eight
Directed by Miloš Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Yuri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger, and Mai Zetterling • 1973 • United States
In Munich in 1972, eight renowned filmmakers each brought their singular artistry to the spectacle of the Olympic Games, capturing the j...
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White Rock
Directed by Tony Maylam • 1977 • United Kingdom
British documentary film-maker and producer Tony Maylam invigorated the sports documentary genre with WHITE ROCK, an idiosyncratic and utterly engaging account of the XII Olympic Winter Games Innsbruck 1976. He did so by placing music front and cen...
