Watch the trailer: My Way to Olympia premieres Monday, July 7, 2014, at 10 PM on PBS stations. (Check local listings.)
Who better to cover the Paralympics, the international sporting event for athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities, than Niko von Glasow, the world’s best-known disabled filmmaker? Unfortunately — or fortunately for anyone seeking an insightful and funny documentary — this filmmaker frankly hates sports and thinks the games are “a stupid idea.”
Born with severely shortened arms, von Glasow serves as an endearing guide to London’s Paralympics competition in My Way to Olympia. As he meets a one-handed Norwegian table tennis player, the Rwandan sitting volleyball team, an American archer without arms and a Greek paraplegic boccia player, his own stereotypes about disability and sports get delightfully punctured.
Official Selection of the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.
After the broadcast, visit the My Way to Olympia companion site to watch the full film online for free for a limited time following the broadcast from July 8 to August 7, 2014, watch an extended interview with filmmaker Niko von Glasow, find out what’s happened since the cameras stopped rolling, download a discussion guide and other viewing resources, and ask the filmmaker about the film on POV’s Google+ page on Tuesday, July 8, 2014 (the day after broadcast) from 1 PM to 2 PM ET (10-11 AM PT).
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