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Olympic and Commonwealth Games (15)

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Skier
    Skier
    1978 2 min
    In this short vignette, skier Kathy Kreiner prepares for and participates in her Olympic gold-medal race at Innsbruck.
  • 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.
  • Going the Distance
    Going the Distance
    Paul Cowan 1979 1 h 29 min
    This feature-length documentary chronicles the efforts of 8 athletes, both in their home countries before the August 1978 Commonwealth Games and during competition itself. The film was the official film of the 11th Commonwealth Games, held in Edmonton, Canada.
  • Games of the XXI Olympiad
    Games of the XXI Olympiad
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    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.
  • Harry Jerome : The Fastest Man on Earth
    Harry Jerome : The Fastest Man on Earth
    Ileana Pietrobruno 2011 10 min
    This short film is a condensed version of our feature documentary Mighty Jerome, made especially for elementary and middle-school classes. Canadian athlete Harry Jerome overcame racism to reach the height of track-and-field success. When an injury ended his career, Jerome continued training and went on to achieve one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.
  • 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.
  • 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."
  • Mighty Jerome (Short Version)
    Mighty Jerome (Short Version)
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    Charles Officer 2010 52 min
    In 1959, at just 19, Harry Jerome was Canada's most promising track and field star on his way to the Olympics in Rome. By 1962, after suffering a gruesome leg injury, there was every reason to think that his racing days were over. But Jerome was not just a champion on the track; he was doubly determined off it. And so began his climb to what his coach, Bill Bowerman, called "the greatest comeback in track and field history."

    Through years of unparalleled political turbulence, racial conflict and his own personal challenges, Harry Jerome kept his head down and ran, displaying strength of character and willful perseverance every bit as impressive as his record-setting athleticism.

    Filmmaker Charles Officer uses gorgeous monochrome imagery, impassioned interviews and astonishing archival footage to tell the runner's triumphant story, from his early days in North Vancouver, through his three Olympics and his unequalled streak of records, to his sudden and tragically premature death. Family, friends and teammates recall a man who forever changed the Canadian sports landscape and made an indelible mark upon the world.

    Compelling, surprising and urgently paced, Mighty Jerome will electrify sports fans, history buffs and all those with an appreciation for tales of courage and redemption.

  • 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.
  • O Canada #1: National Anthem: "With Glowing Hearts"
    O Canada #1: National Anthem: "With Glowing Hearts"
    Ted Remerowski 1979 1 min
    This short film celebrates Canada from coast to coast with the national anthem. This version of the anthem was arranged on the occasion of the 1976 Olympics.
  • 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.
  • Standing on the Line
    Standing on the Line
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    Paul Émile d'Entremont 2018 1 h 20 min
    TRIGGER WARNING: This film contains the following subject matter: Suicide and self harm.

    In both amateur and professional sports, being gay remains taboo. For some athletes, the pressure to perform is compounded by the further strain of deciding whether or not to come out of the closet. They set out to overcome prejudice in the hopes of changing things for the athletes of tomorrow.