Films in two decades embrace dual-Olympic dreams. On the morning of April 18, the 20th Beijing International Sports Film Week Theme Forum – Overseas Publicity and Promotion of Chinese Sports Films was held at O-stage, Langyuan Station. Present at the forum were Keng Guan Chiu, Malaysian famous Chinese director; Li Tingwei, Secretary of the Party Committee, Director and General Manager of Poly Pictures Investment Co., Ltd.; Tong Jian, world champion in pairs figure skating and Olympic silver medallist; Song Fangjin, famous scriptwriter and writer in the Chinese mainland; and Guan Yadi, veteran filmmaker, podcaster and annual overall champion of the Whitbread Round the World Race. Yan Qiang, a sports media personality and founder of Score Sport, presided over the forum.

Photo of the forum

Yan Qiang

The forum focused on the global communication of sports films, and the six guests conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the current development status of the sports film industry, overseas dissemination, and the construction of sports powers through sports films from different perspectives, making a multi-dimensional and all-round interpretation of “the global communication significance of sports films" and "the content and channels of communication”.

Group photo of panellists at the forum

Tong Jian, world champion in pairs figure skating, Olympic silver medallist and the image ambassador of this year’s Sports Film Week, introduced the development status of China’s ice sports, the integration and development of sports and various art forms, and talked about the significance of the globalisation of Chinese sports films from the perspective of athletes. According to Tong Jian, in the process of international communication, Chinese sports films will help improve the international image of the sports industry; as an important form of media, films can make the world better understand the real development status of Chinese athletes and Chinese culture.

Tong Jian

From the perspective of investors, Li Tingwei analysed the participation of Poly Pictures in the co-production of two sports element films, YOLO and Pegasus 2, and summarised the characteristics of sports films with high-box office with four words: “multiple integration, emotional drive”. He pointed out that sports films driven by emotion are an important way to expand the dissemination, and that “sports films are to carry out international communication, telling the individual stories first, and then the mass ones.” In respect of how to do a good job in the combination of sports films and traditional culture, he took Lion Dance Sisters and other films as examples for valuable sharing.

Li Tingwei

Song Fangjin elaborated on “how to spread Chinese sports films overseas” from the aspect of drama. According to Song, for sports film creation, “types should be diversified, and themes be in-depth”, and he also expressed his own unique views on how to balance the authenticity and drama in the creation of drama. He believes that telling Chinese stories is the primary way of international sports communication.

Song Fangjin, Tong Jian

Keng Guan Chiu, based on his practical experience of directing multiple sports films, talked about the difficulties encountered in the process of sports film production and put forward his own professional opinions, including how to integrate sports elements with other types of films, how to balance professional techniques and emotions and how to better express the authenticity of sports through lens. He believes that “sports and film should be combined for mutual achievement.”

Zhou Qingyuan

Guan Yadi expressed his opinions as both a veteran filmmaker and a fan of extreme endurance sports. He believes that creating a good sports film requires love of both the film and sports. Sports film production should embrace the mass market and keep in mind the sportsmanship. Only in this way can we make a sports film that resonates with the viewers and is suitable for global dissemination.

Guan Yadi

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Beijing International Sports Film Week. This year’s Sports Film Week aims to continue to spread the Olympic spirit through the power of sports film and television works, strengthen sports cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, tell more excellent Chinese sports stories to the international community, and help build China into a country strong in sports. At the theme forum, the panellists demonstrated the sense of responsibility and commitment of Chinese filmmakers and sports professionals and offered ideas and suggestions on China’s sports film industry from different aspects. There is every reason to believe that Chinese films and Chinese sports films are going global at a steady pace.

The collection of works of the 20th Beijing International Sports Film Week has been officially launched. Please submit your work and log on the “Sports Film Week” section of the official website of Beijing Olympic City Development Association to check the collection announcement. The submission deadline is 15 July 2024, and a presentation event is planned at the end of August, where the outstanding works from each section will be presented in the Sport Movies & TV - Milano International FICTS FEST - World Championship Final in Italy. Let’s stay tuned!