''Jesse Owens'' is a 2012 American documentary

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

produced and distributed by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. It serves as the seventh episode of season 24 of ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

''.

Summary

It centers on American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

and his participation in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Production and release

PBS produced the film for ''American Experience''. The film serves as a profile of Owens and includes experts weighing in on his accomplishments. Laurens Grant directed the film.

Stanley Nelson Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. (born June 7, 1951) is an American documentary filmmaker and a MacArthur Fellows Program, MacArthur Fellow known as a director, writer and producer of documentaries examining African-American history and experiences. He i ...

, who frequently collaborates with PBS wrote the film.

Andre Braugher Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the com ...

narrates the film. PBS both broadcast the film and released it on DVD on May 1, 2012.

Reception

Mike Hale of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote positively of the film, though noted that it "suffers from its brevity," adding "There's not much time to get below the surface, and Owens's troubled post-Olympic life gets particularly quick treatment." Hale added that what Grant does put on screen "is unimpeachable."

Accolades

Grant, Nelson and Andrew Horn won a

News & Documentary Emmy Award The News & Documentary Emmy Awards, or News & Documentary Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sci ...

for their research on this documentary.News & Documentary Emmy Awards (2013) – IMDb
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References

External links

Video: Jesse Owens at PBS.org
{{American Experience 2012 American television episodes 2012 films American documentary television films American Experience Cultural depictions of Jesse Owens Films about Olympic track and field Films about the 1936 Summer Olympics Films set in Berlin News & Documentary Emmy Award winning programs