JESSE OWENS, A FILM HERO ONCE AGAIN. HIS DAUGHTER MARLENE INVITED TO “SPORT MOVIES & TV 2016” IN MILANO

Marlene Owens, daughter of Jesse Owens authentic myth of the twentieth century, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, was invited to “SPORT MOVIES & TV 2016 – 34^th Milano International FICTS Fest” Final of the “World FICTS Challenge” Worldwide Championship of Television, Cinema, Sport, Culture and Communication articulated in 18 Festivals around the 5 Continents scheduled in Milan (Italy) from November 16 to 21.

Marlene Owens speaks, 35 years after his death, the father’s history told in the film “Race”. Directed by Stephen Hopkins and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, the film stars Stephan James as Owens, and co-stars Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, William Hurt and Carice van Houten.

More than any other athlete of his era, Jesse Owens’s image on film has determined his fate.

It all began with those few seconds of the 100-meter dash that Leni Riefenstahl enshrined in her film “Olympia, Part 1”: the close-up on Owens’s face, the white flare of the starting gun, Owens’s lurch, and then his upright run past his competitors in 10.3 seconds, and the ever-so-close tight shot of a perturbed Hitler.

Commissioned by the Propaganda Ministry to film the 1936 Berlin games, Riefenstahl was set to showcase the triumph of German athletes as proof of Aryan physical and intellectual superiority over the rest of the world. But Owens, who earned gold in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the long jump and the 4-by-100-meter relay, became the true star of Riefenstahl’s film.