There is no film at the World Film Festival (in Montreal) more unexpected or more satisfying than Atletu (The Athlete). By John Griffin
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE
Published September 14, 2009

Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew’s debut collaboration is a visually ravishing, revelatory mixed-medium narrative of the great Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila.

Seamlessly interweaving extensive footage from Bikila’s miracle gold medals at the 1960 Rome and 1964 Tokyo Olympic games with recreated scenes starring Lakew as Bikila in the years after his triumph, Atletu chronicles Bikila’s journey from national hero to tragedy, and back.

At once biopic, international travelogue, personal biography, drama and documentary, Atletu redresses the incredible story of the barefoot “innocent country boy” who broke records to become Africa’s first gold medalist, and broke more when he came back four years later to do it again. Because it’s the Olympics, there is great archival material, and as an A-list editor, U.S. filmmaker Frankel makes full use of it. Ethiopian Lakew’s contributions range from original idea, extensive research, development, script, and years of passionate commitment to give the “athlete of the millennium” his due, and he embodies Bikila in the final years of his life.

Frankel is a New York aural-visual artist, now based in Berlin with his German partner and their two kids. His CV reads like a who's who of downtown NYC culture, running from working with music vid guru Jem Cohen and editing indie films under Ang Lee’s Good Machine banner to creating the visual accompaniments to Tan Dun’s The Crouching Tiger Concerto, with Yo-Yo Ma and Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings symphony. The latter toured the world and played the High Lights Festival here in 2004.

“The film promo tag,” he says, “is, ‘Shot independently from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, with a crew representing 10 nations.’ It’s a global indie film.” A global indie film that could have been made by David Lean - it’s that quietly epic in scope and ambition, a 35-mm project all the way. “It has been an amazing process and learning experience. People who have seen it have been really interested, and had very emotional responses.” “I had someone come up after the Edinburgh screening and say, ‘I’m at a point in my life where I really need courage. This movie gave it to me.’”