Das weiße Stadion / The White Stadium

This documentary about the 1928 winter Olympic games in St. Moritz showcases not only the athletic contests, but also the landscapes of the snowy Engadine, including the Rhaetian Railway, which Hans Castorp also explored in Thomas Mann’s $The Magic Mountain%. Director Fanck also covers the highlights of Alpine tourism that Mann described in the book. We see a visitor transformed into a ski bunny during $a visit to a main street specialty store%, the acquisition there of a $pair of spruce skis%, and the famed sport of skijoring. Another part of the film gives us Scandinavian winter sportsmen who have perfected the Sámi art of snowshoeing and dominate the international competition. But the undoubted star of the film is Nowegian figure skater Sonja Henie, who won her first gold medal in St. Moritz at the age of 15. – Restored silent film with music compositions by the students of the Freiburg University of Music under the baton of professor Cornelius Schwehr.