With the London Olympics 2012 running at us full pelt like Usain Bolt, it seems bizarre that this worldwide event that includes over 200 countries has been going since, well, forever. The modern games, as we know them know, have been in place since 1896 and since then Australia, Great Britain and Switzerland are the only countries to have sent a team to every single event. Including to the somewhat politically dubious 1936 Berlin Games. Although it was two years before the Nazis came to power, Hitler saw the games as the perfect platform for promoting the Nazi party and his ideals of racial supremacy. Threatened with a boycott if he didn’t allow blacks and Jews to compete, he conceded but his beliefs obviously stayed the same.
Broadway are presenting a rare showing of Olympia, a film by Leni Riefenstahl commissioned by Hitler that covered the 1936 games and was then used to promote the Nazi ideology at the time. The first documentary of the Olympic Games, it is a beautiful piece of work and of historical importance. Café Philosophique will allow viewers to watch the piece and discuss with Philosophers from the University of Nottingham whether or not the artistic beauty of the film is ultimately flawed by its usage by the Nazis. The film runs at an astounding three hours so it will be shown over two nights with an introduction from Nottingham University’s Professor Stephen Mumford.
Café Philosophique is at Broadway on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 July from 6pm. Retain your ticket from the first day to gain entry to the second day’s film and talks.
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