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Olympic Memories

Enjoy this collection of films that document Olympic dreams of years past.

  • 26 Times in a Row
    26 Times in a Row
    Jean-Claude Labrecque 1978 23 min
    This short documentary revisits the 1976 Olympic Marathon. A modern-day addition to the Games, the marathon commemorates the soldier who ran cross-country, in 490 B.C., to announce the Greek victory at Marathon and then died. Here, great film footage of the 1976 Summer Olympics captures the physical demands of the race, while its emotional counterpart is related by Waldemar Cierpinski, the event’s 1976 gold medalist. This emotion-charged film proves that although the winner of the Decathlon is the best all-round athlete, the “toughest” is the winner of the Marathon.
  • Nelli Kim
    Nelli Kim
    Georges Dufaux  &  Pierre Bernier 1978 28 min
    A member of the Soviet Union's women's gymnastic team at the 1976 Olympic Games, Nelli Kim was seventeen when she won two gold medals for her superb performance on the horse vault and for the floor exercises. The slow-motion camera highlights the best moments of her performance. It also shows the person behind the athlete, and the nervousness that is generated by the presence of a new star, Nadia Comeneci of Romania.
  • Cycling: Still the Greatest
    Cycling: Still the Greatest
    Gary Toole 1980 27 min
    This short documentary is an ode to the thrills and excitement of cycling. Including highlights from the 1976 Olympics and the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the film features some of the world's best cyclists and their coaches, in training and in competition.
  • Games of the XXI Olympiad
    Games of the XXI Olympiad
    Jean-Claude Labrecque Jean Beaudin , … 1977 1 h 57 min
    Edited from almost 100 km of film footage shot during the Games, this feature documentary is a breathtaking portrait of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Much more than a simple record of the Games, the film approaches each event with the intention of revealing the athlete - whether winner or loser - as a unique individual.
  • Operation Gamescan 76
    Operation Gamescan 76
    Michael Brun 1977 57 min
    This short documentary profiles the Canadian military’s organization, logistical, and security operations at the XXI Olympiad held in 1976 in Montréal. The scale of the operation was large: 16,000 troops were mobilized to provide protection for 7,500 athletes, countless VIPs, and the general public on 138 sites located in Montreal, Bromont, and Kingston. This film offers a behind-the-scenes look at the planning and synchronization necessary to mount a successful international event of massive proportions.
  • I'll Go Again
    I'll Go Again
    Paul Cowan 1977 41 min
    This documentary by director Paul Cowan is about four athletes and a team that competed in the 1976 Olympics. They had trained courageously to be among those who would mount the podium to receive a medal. None of them did, but was it worth the effort? I'll Go Again answers the question.
  • Coaches
    Coaches
    Paul Cowan 1976 57 min
    Coaches is about four people preparing their teams for the Pre-Olympics. Their distinctive approaches emerge during the fights, the good times, and those critical post-game sessions when feelings are raw or jubilant. It is a film about human growth.
  • Mighty Jerome
    Mighty Jerome
    Charles Officer 2010 1 h 23 min
    From acclaimed filmmaker Charles Officer comes the story of the rise, fall and redemption of Harry Jerome, Canada's most record-setting track and field star. Gorgeous monochrome imagery, impassioned interviews and astonishing archival footage are used to tell the triumphant and compelling story of what Harry Jerome's own coach called "the greatest comeback in track and field history."
  • Fighting Back
    Fighting Back
    Gary Toole 1984 24 min
    The Cabbagetown Boxing Club in Toronto has produced many Olympic and world-class boxers. Fighting Back is the story of Asif Dar, an underweight immigrant who learned boxing in order to defend himself from neighbourhood bullies. The film traces the relationship between Asif Dar, who came to the club as a youngster, and his instructor, Ken Hamilton, a long-time foe of the violence traditionally associated with boxing.
  • Monica Goermann, Gymnast
    Monica Goermann, Gymnast
    Steven Kellar 1980 27 min
    Monica Goermann is a young Winnipeg gymnast who is on her way to becoming an international celebrity. Under the watchful supervision of her mother, who is her coach, Monica trains daily, executing difficult moves with superhuman control. In this film she is shown preparing for the 1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton, where she tied for the Silver Medal.
  • Almost Giants
    Almost Giants
    Gary Toole 1984 24 min
    In recent years, Canada has risen from virtual obscurity in women's gymnastics to become one of the top ten countries in the world, directly behind the United States and Eastern Europe. Almost Giants takes a behind-the-scenes look at the training process--from young hopefuls in individual clubs to the selection of competitors for a berth on the national team. Highlights include the team's training and preparation for, as well as participation in, the 1983 World Championships in Budapest, where the Canadian National Women's Gymnastic Team finished in the top twelve.
  • Springboard to the Sun
    Springboard to the Sun
    Jean Dansereau 1964 27 min
    At the 4th Pan-American Games at São Paulo, Brazil, gymnastic teams from North, South and Central America demonstrate a perfection of grace, form and strength that will inspire every audience to fresh appreciation of gymnastics. The film shows events in which Canadian teams competed and in which Wilhelm Weiler won a gold medal for Canada.
  • Stories from Our Land Vol. 2 - Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance
    Stories from Our Land Vol. 2 - Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance
    Allen Auksaq 2013 10 min
    This short film explores why Inuit games were more than just fun to pass the time; it required the athletes to be in peak physical condition to perform these ancient feats of strength.

    Stories from Our Land 2.0 is the latest edition of the NFB's Indigenous short film inititiative. This edition helped four Inuit youth hone the creative skills and tell their stories, offering viewers insightful perspectives on life in Nunavut.
  • Sabre and Foil
    Sabre and Foil
    George Kaczender 1967 7 min
    The ancient and deadly sport of fencing, demonstrated by world masters in competition. The film is not a record of individual duels but it does capture the cool, merciless attack in a way to focus the eye on every swift maneuver. The cold clash of steel on steel, the staccato pound of feet, the strange, sculptured postures of the masked, white figures - all make absorbing, convincing viewing.
  • The Boxing Girls of Kabul
    The Boxing Girls of Kabul
    Ariel Nasr 2011 52 min
    In this feature documentary, a remarkable group of young Afghan women dream of representing their country as boxers at the 2012 Olympics, embarking on a journey of both personal and political transformation.