On the morning of August 17, the 12th Beijing International Film Festival and the 18th Beijing International Sports Film Week Industry Forum was held at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Centre in Beijing. This forum was based on the theme “What mission sports films should undertake”.

The forum was attended by Gao Yunchao, Deputy Director of Beijing Olympic City Development Centre; Song Fangjin, famous screenwriter and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Film Literature Society; Gong Beibi, famous actress and star of the sports film “On Your Mark”; Qi Kang, Chief Producer of the sports documentary film “Tough Out”, and Liu Ying, a former member of the Chinese women's football team. The forum was hosted by highly popular sports presenter Liu Chang.

Gao Yunchao, Deputy Director of Beijing Olympic City Development Center, pointed out in his speech that Beijing International Sports Film Week was a very important and unique legacy of the Beijing Olympic Games and the creation of sports film, and television has an important role to play in the development of Chinese sports culture and in helping to build a strong sports nation and a healthy China. He stressed the need for sports films to keep pace with the times and to adapt to the new opportunities presented by the booming development of sports and the integration of sports with culture and the media. He stressed that sports films should continue to open up the narrative space and content boundaries to vigorously promote the in-depth integration of sports films with national fitness, and to fully demonstrate the new look of Chinese sports in the new era with excellent sports works, so as to spread China's voice and tell the Chinese stories with more confidence and ease.

The forum focused on two hot topics in Chinese sports films at the moment. With professional and fresh perspectives, the six forum guests launched a series of profound discussions and exchanges on how sports films can tell the story of Chinese sports and promote the spirit of Chinese sports, as well as how sports films can assume new opportunities and development.

In a dialogue session on the theme of “The role of sports films in social development”, the guests gave a comprehensive explanation of the topic. Song Fangjin used academician Yuan Longping as an example to illustrate the relationship between sports and sports films. He stressed that “sport is naturally original” and that sports films are important calling cards for the development of national sport. He stressed the need for sports films to develop and to develop well. And he also emphasized that in an expression like cinema with its ups and downs, digging into the themes as well as the inner world of the characters to grow and spread the story of sports can better meet the needs of the public and promote social development.

Liu Ying, former member of the Chinese women's football team shared her feelings about sports films from personal experience. Having had experience in leading teams, she believes that sports films are absolutely inspirational and definitely important for athletes. She believes that sports films can spread positive energy and inspire more people to pursue a career in sports. She hopes to continue the spirit of Chinese women's football in the future, while also promoting Chinese women's football to the world through Chinese sports films.

Gong Beibi, a famous actress from Chinese mainland and the star of the sports film “On Your Mark”, shared her excitement about making her debut in a sports-themed film. She said that sports films can inspire personal development and convey the spirit of sports. She believes that in recent years, China has gradually established itself as a “sports powerhouse” in the international arena, but sports films have not yet entered the mainstream of the market, and Chinese sports films need further development.

The sports-themed documentary film “Tough Out” Executive Producer and General Manager of AiQi Canran Studio, Qi Kang, elaborated on the impact of sportsmanship on social development from the essence of sports. He believes that the spirit of sport can inspire people to reflect or think about the inner bodily functions or social mechanisms of the human self, and can also create a relatively good atmosphere in the face of social problems. He believes that it is important to open up the connection between films on sports and their audiences to create positive values for society.

Afterwards, the guests had a dialogue on the theme of “Opportunities for sports films in the current context”. According to Song Fangjin, the most pressing issue at present is how to get more attention for sports films in the current market demand. He suggested that the theme of Chinese sports films is monotonous and that the expansion of sports themes or sports elements needs to be explored more deeply. He also pointed out that sport, as a special field, exhibits a certain non-renewability of film resources and requires powerful equipment, technical expertise and the best resources to support it. He pointed out that there is a lack of a ring-breaking, breakout sports film to take the lead and bring sports films to a wider audience.

Liu Ying proposed that when portraying characters, sports films should add the experience of failure and the injuries behind them to the athlete's growing experience. These back stories are a powerful addition to the characters and a testament to their resilience. She also expressed her expectations for the future of women's football in film and television, believing that it would also be an inspiration for Chinese women's football.

Talking about the opportunities for sports films to break the circle, Gong Beibi believes that sports films need a strong combination of excellent directors and actors, quality scripts and a subject matter that can attract social attention, combined with a sports story. Gong Beibi believes this is a big challenge. She hopes that more female directors and scriptwriters will participate in the sports film business in the future, expanding the female audience in sports and promoting the development of national sports.

When discussing the topic of “Whether the infusion of celebrities can bring higher commercial value to sports films”, Qi Kang emphasized that the extension of the commercial value of celebrities can bring higher social attention to sports films, but it is the characters and the story itself as well as the spirit of sports that can really make audiences feel excited to read them. He sees it as the broadest border between sports cinema and the general public.

The success of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games has made Beijing the “Dual Olympic City” that the world is looking forward to, and has given Chinese filmmakers the important task of “telling Chinese stories and exporting Chinese culture”. In the second industry forum of the 12th Beijing International Film Festival and the 18th Beijing International Sports Film Week, the guests actively contributed their ideas and ideas, showing the responsibility and commitment of Chinese filmmakers. This gives us reasons to believe that Chinese cinema and Chinese sports films are steadily moving towards a brighter future!

Since 13 August, Beijing International Sports Film Week has carried out a number of exciting activities such as thematic forums and offline screenings to discuss the future of Chinese sports films and showcase the high-quality development of Chinese sports culture. On 17 August, the 18th Beijing International Sports Film Week was also held with the release of outstanding films and the launch of the Public Service Exhibition. During the event, 18 outstanding productions and “Most Popular Media Films” were announced. They will jointly compete in the Milan finals as representatives of the best works, further expanding the influence of Chinese sports culture in the international arena. Let's watch together!