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Germany, United States · 2016
Rated PG · 1h 30m
Director Deborah Riley Draper
Starring Blair Underwood
Genre Documentary, History
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In 1936, 18 African American athletes defied Nazi racial thought and Jim Crow racism to win hearts and medals at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. Since the achievements of the 17 other black competing athletes have been largely overshadowed by Jesse Owens, this illuminating documentary seeks to shed light on the lives and contributions of each participant.
Riley doesn't portray this fellowship of black athletes as victims, but as pioneers proving themselves against white supremacy behind enemy lines. And yet this doc also pulls them back down to earth as mere men and women competing against the odds, human to human.
The New York Times by Andy Webster
[A] deft and comprehensive documentary.
The Hollywood Reporter by Justin Lowe
Draper constructs a concisely assembled editorial package that covers the essential historical backstory of the 1936 Games while building drama during the competition and establishing a consistently affecting emotional arc throughout.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
History is not neat and tidy, however much we wish it could be, and Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is more than adept at getting to the truth about perhaps the most mythologized event of the modern Olympic movement.
RogerEbert.com by Odie Henderson
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice tackles its subject in a straightforward manner freed from dramatic license and the fear of box office failure.
As a documentary, “Olympic Pride” is a little on the staid side. The film’s writer-producer-director, Deborah Riley Draper, works in a variation on the Ken Burns style.... Yet she does an absorbing job of capturing a historical moment that was even more fraught than it’s generally imagined to be.
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