Endurance (1999)

Part documentary, part reconstruction: Haile Gebrselassie's childhood in rural Ethiopia is re-enacted, and the film builds to his 10,000 meters gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. It is quiet, unhurried and more interested in family, landscape and the long run to school than in race tactics, which makes it a gentle opener for a mixed audience. Runners will enjoy the final laps all the more for knowing where the legs came from.