THEME EXPLORATION

sports idolatry

22 films · 2 directors

Tracing the thread…

FILMS THAT EXPLORE THIS

Kings Ransom
2009 · Peter Berg

Touchdown Mickey

Touchdown Mickey
1932 · Wilfred Jackson

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations

Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations
1938 · Leni Riefenstahl

Short Plays
2014 · Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Hajime no Ippo
2003 · —

2DIE4
2026 · André Abdala

Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye

Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye
1977 · Nobuhiko Obayashi

Dead Cert
1974 · Tony Richardson

Film For Guitar

Film For Guitar
1966 · Bruce Beresford

Giraffe Football or “The Alternative”

Giraffe Football or “The Alternative”
1973 · Jean Rouch

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
1965 · J. Lee Thompson

Nogent, Eldorado du dimanche

Nogent, Eldorado du dimanche
1929 · Marcel Carné

The Hand of God

The Hand of God
2021 · Paolo Sorrentino

This Sporting Life

This Sporting Life
1963 · Lindsay Anderson

Enthusiasm. Symphony of Donbas

Enthusiasm. Symphony of Donbas
1930 · Dziga Vertov

Encaje y Azucar

Encaje y Azucar
1981 · María Novaro

Garrincha: Joy of the People

Garrincha: Joy of the People
1962 · Joaquim Pedro de Andrade

The Ghost
1983 · Chang Cheh

Turning Point
1982 · Yannis Dalianidis

Nacho Libre
2006 · Jared Hess

Arthur the King

Arthur the King
2024 · Simon Cellan Jones

Goon
2012 · Michael Dowse

DIRECTORS WHO EXPLORE THIS

Ken Loach United Kingdom

His films critically explore how working-class communities invest emotional and financial devotion in sports heroes as an escape from economic hardship.

Damien Chazelle United States

Through films like 'Whiplash' he examines the obsessive devotion athletes and performers develop toward their craft and the figures who demand perfection from them.