Berlin 36 (Stille Sieger)

Dir. Kaspar Heidelbach I Germany 2009 I 100 mins I German with English subtitles

Inspired by the true story of Jewish athlete Gretel Bergmann, this is a remarkable piece of forgotten Olympic history.

Bergmann (award-winning actress Karoline Herfurth) was considered a top contender for the gold medal in the women’s high jump at the 1936 Summer Games in Nazi-controlled Berlin. With the Americans threatening an Olympic boycott if Jewish athletes were barred from competing, Bergman, who had already left Germany to establish her career in the UK, was forced by the Nazis to return to Germany to attend the Olympic training camp.

 

Since the Nazis could not risk the possibility of a Jewish athlete on the Aryan team winning an Olympic medal they conspired to replace her with an unknown über-athlete Marie Ketteler (Sebastian Urzendowsky). Years later it was revealed that Marie is in fact a man.

Berlin 36 is the exploration of a tenuous friendship between two outsiders who find themselves in unimaginable circumstances.

Screening with:

The Y Word
Dir. Robert Young I 2 mins I UK I 2010

A short film to combat antiSemitism in football.

Sponsored by Sara and Paul Phillips.