Film+
Infinite Possibilities for Sports X Films
2024年，欧洲杯、巴黎奥运会，以及一系列的重要体育盛会纷至杳来，对于体育界而言，是共襄盛举、期待值满满的“大年”。
In 2024, the UEFA European Football Championship, the Paris Olympics and other important sporting events will be held, which is a "fruitful year" with great expectations for the field of sports.
Focusing on the theme of “Films in Two Decades Embrace Dual-Olympic Dreams”, the 20th BJIFF Sports Film Week will continue to ask some important questions through forums and screenings as follows, “Sports Films, So “Hot” and "Forum: Sports Culture Promotion with Images from Films and Animations", to explore the connotation and extension of sports-themed film and TV works, and expect the unlimited possibilities of sports-themed works in the future.
This year, we will continue to expand the lineup of the forums, enrich the forum activities of the Beijing International Sports Film Week, and present all the fans with more wonderful events.
▍Wang Junxia and Shui Qingxia: Heavyweight Guests Officially Announced!
Beijing International Sports Film Week this year will invite two heavyweight guests, for a series of activities based on the forums. They are Ms. Wang Junxia, former member of the Chinese women's track and field team, Olympic champion and the first Chinese athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in long-distance running, and Ms. Shui Qingxia, a member of the National People's Congress (NPC), a famous player of the Chinese Women’s Football Team, and the former head coach of the National Team.
Those who are familiar with sports news must know the two guests very well.
Wang Junxia
Wang Junxia is nicknamed in the sports world as the "Oriental Sacred Deer". The Olympic champion and world record holder has created one legendary victory after another with her magnificent speed and endurance.
Wang Junxia's athletic career has been filled with moments of brilliance. She won the 10,000-meter gold medal at the 1992 World Junior Athletics Championships in South Korea with her amazing speed. She once again proved her incomparable dominance in the 10,000-meter race at the 1993 World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Wang Junxia
Meanwhile, her performance at the 7th National Games was even legendary. She not only won the champion of marathon and 10,000-meter race, but also displayed her capability in the 3,000-meter and 1,500-meter races, winning the champion and runner-up respectively.
In 1993, a sports year of landmark, Wang Junxia showed up within just six days. She not only broke three world records four times, but also created a record that attracted the world's attention: the brilliant achievement of seven gold medals and one silver medal in a single track and field competition.
In 1996, she wrote history again at the Atlanta Olympics, winning the gold medal in the 5,000-meter race and the silver medal in the 10,000-meter race. She became the first and only athlete in the history of Chinese track and field to win gold and silver medals at the same Olympic Games.
Wang Junxia
Wang Junxia's extraordinary talent and perseverance were also recognized in the world in 1994. She was awarded the 14th Jesse Owens Award in New York, USA, making her the only Asian athlete winning this award till now.
In 2012, the magnificent trajectory of this track and field queen was permanently engraved in the IAAF Hall of Fame to highlight her significance and everlasting influence on the history of track and field in the world.
Shui Qingxia
Shui Qingxia is a former Chinese women's football player, a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), a member of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), and a former head coach of the Chinese national Women’s Football Team.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) once acknowledged Shui Qingxia as follows: she had raised the Asian Cup five times within 11 years, she was the first player of the golden generation to serve as the head coach of the national team, and she knew how to win the Women's Asian Cup better than anyone else.
As an athlete, Shui Qingxia has displayed her well-rounded and incomparable sports talent.
From the youthful track and field to the green glory of the football field, her athletic career started with training in the long jump and pentathlon, and she found the real stage of her own in football unexpectedly. She made her debut for Shanghai team in 1984, and then she was promoted to be one member of the national team the following year. She wrote the silver chapter for Chinese football at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, where she played every game of the women's tournament.
Shui Qingxia
When the Women's World Cup was held in Japan in 1999, Shui Qingxia chose not to participate in the tournament because she was playing football in Japan and attending a coaching training course, so she missed the grand event of the world.
She helped the Shanghai Women's Football Team successfully defend their title at the 2001 National Games before announcing her retirement.
Retirement is not the end, but the beginning in another form.
As the core of the Shanghai Women's Football Team and the Chinese National Team, Shui Qingxia won a precious silver medal for China at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. As a coach after her retirement, she led the Chinese Women’s Football Team to win the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup with her unique insight and strategy. She is not only a leader in the field of football, but also an outstanding representative and inspirer of Chinese football.
Shui Qingxia
In October 2016, Shui Qingxia also participated in the selection of the head coach for the Chinese Men’s National Football Team as a member of the technical committee of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), showing her deep influence in the filed of football.
Shui Qingxia
When talking about football, sports, and her legendary athletic career, Shui Qingxia said that it was the desire for victory that supported her all the way.
"I just still have a desire to win, a desire to be a little bit more determined for myself and the team, a desire to go a little bit further this time than before. It's like when you juggle the football, you don't know whether you can make it or not, but 1, 2, 3... you just look down at your feet with desire and the ball will pop up over and over again."
▍Forum Preview: What can we talk about at the Beijing International Sports Film Week
Inviting Wang Junxia and Shui Qingxia, two famous sports stars to participate in the event is a new step by Beijing International Sports Film Week after years of cooperation with HiShorts!
At Beijing International Sports Film Week this year, we'll discuss with a number of industry heavyweights including Wang Junxia and Shui Qingxia, as well as Mr. Li Yi, a leader from the CFA and General Manager of Great Sports, and Ms. Li Li, General Manager of Migu Video, and other representatives of the sports and film industries:
1:30PM~3:00PM, April 18
Sharing Forum and Film Presentation "Sports Films, So “Hot”
Forum Content:
As a kind of audiovisual art, film is perhaps the most suitable art form to convey and present the charm of sports from the very beginning of its birth. The tension of competition, the beauty of sports, the inner portrayal of athletes, the preparation on and off the field... The relationship between video art and sports is becoming more and more inseparable. From Woman Basketball Player No. 5, To The Fore, Leap, Ping Pong: The Triumph to Tough Out, One and Only and Never Say Never, sports theme has been both a longstanding tradition of Chinese films as well as an increasingly highly regarded film genre in recent years. More and more audience are enjoying watching and discussing sports films, and more people are enjoying sports as a result. Then, what is the charm and influence of sports films? How can we better spread sports culture and sports spirit through the art form of film? What kind of sports films can be considered the good ones? In this forum, we will invite outstanding representatives from different fields to share their unique views and insights.
Panelists:
◆ Wang Junxia, Olympic Champion, World Record Holder, Oriental Sacred Deer
◆ Li Yi, Party Secretary and General Manager of Great Sports
◆ Fan Xiaoqing, scholar, consultant of Busan International Film Festival
◆NANHSI YUEN, 2023HiShorts! Director winning the Award of Best Documentary Short Film with her film Girl of Wind
Film Screening: Girl of Wind (wonderful clips)
Girl of Wind is a story about finding a friend, a lonely deaf girl, Yang Yang, who often climbs unaided the buildings about 4000-meter or 5000-meter high in the city. One day, director NANHSI YUEN happened to meet her and started the journey of lives since then. During the filming, the director started to examine her own life. In the film, Yang Yang and the director become the parallel characters, one real and one imaginary, in which the dialogues are both about each other and about themselves. This is the whisper of two young people generated by the changes in their lives within five years, which weaves the difficulties and longings of contemporary youth for their lives, for their ideals, and for their futures.
NANHSI YUEN
A documentary director who started as a film editor and grew into an editing director. She decided to pick up the camera to express herself in 2019. Her inquisitive and dynamic personality promotes her to focus more on the ideas such as "sports is educatable", "wild life", and female empowerment. Her works are very close to the characters to present a kind of vivid vitality, and the audience can often feel the power in the cinema. In 2023, she independently completed the documentary short film Girl in Wind, which was nominated for the 60th Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary Short Film, the 13th China Academy Award of Documentary Film for Best Newcomer Documentary Film and Best Documentary Short Film, reviewed by the Golden Kapok Award at the 20th Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, and won Best Documentary Short Film at the 2023 Hishorts! Film Festival. In the same year, she directed the drama documentary Modern Matchmaking. Now, the documentary feature film The Sound of Wind which is under production has been shortlisted in CCDF-IFG at the proposal stage, International Leipzig Festival, New Zealand Documentary Edge Festival, Tokyo Documentary Festival, FRIST Documentary Lab and won several awards.
1:30PM~3:00PM, April 20
Sharing Forum "Forum: Sports Culture Promotion with Images from Films and Animations
Forum Content:
When sports encounter animation, it is a complete release of imagination and expression, a perfect combination of the beauty of sports and the beauty of images, as well as a double feast of emotional tension and visual experience. How much potential has not been explored in the attempt to visualize sports in animation, and what are the advantages and limitations of animated sports films compared with live images? In the process of animation creation, how should we balance the relationship between the infinite possibilities and cultural authenticity of artistic expression? What methods should animated sports films adopt to attract audiences and faithfully reflect sports culture? At this forum, we expect to provide inspiration and direction for video creators, and bring new perspectives and understanding to sports fans at the same time.
Panelists:
◆Shui Qingxia, a member of the National People's Congress (NPC), a famous player of the Chinese Women’s Football Team, and the former head coach of the National Team.
◆Wang Ke, Founder, Director, Screenwriter of PAPA Pictures
◆Cai Tianjun, General Manager of Migu Video Content Operation Center
◆Li Sanshui, the head of W Group, a famous advertising creative.
Film screening: Circle
Circle is an original network animation co-produced by PAPA Pictures and bilibili. PAPA Pictures serves as the producer. The story is about how Temur, a Mongolian wrestler returns to the ring after a strange encounter in the grassland after he is defeated and retires.
Wang Ke, Director of Circle
Founder of PAPA Pictures, director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. He specializes in exaggerated action design with sense of competence, and he is committed to creating a highly recognizable and hard-hitting style, bold and smooth camera scheduling, and overall rhythmic choreography that focuses on performance. He is passionate about competitive sports-related themes, and enters the animation industry after the release of his boxing-themed graduation film Fearless. He worked as a storyboard artist of the film The Wandering Earth from 2015 to 2017, and the character designer for films such as Dragon Keeper, Miracle Swordsman, Return of Monkey King, etc. After PAPA Pictures was founded in 2017, he has worked as an animation director to produce some 2D animation films such as Millennium Fables PV, Bear Witness Looking for Gods PV, The Opening Animation of Jakarta Asian Games, Okamoto: Not Restricted by Limits, and Miss Mei. He participated in the Bilibili Capsules in 2022 and created the Mongolian wrestling-themed short film Circle. He will follow up by directing the original 2D series Millennium Fables.
In addition, the Strawberry series of 4 short films Still + short film Dad Is Not Protagonist will officially be screened on April 20 at the BJIFF Beijing Film Market.
Still is a series of short films by young directors created by HiShorts! and the Strawberry Music Festival. The series features four short films inspired by the Strawberry Music Festival and shot by four HiShorts! directors in four cities with a strong sense of local characteristics.
Dad Is Not Protagonist, produced by K-Boxing, is the first film advertisement "Overlord Spear" launched by “The Seven Wild Warriors” released by HiShorts! and W, the first-line Asia-Pacific brand marketing & entertainment group. It shows the spirit of "two generations of father and son in the same robe as comrades-in-arms" in the form of intertwined plays.
HiShorts! Market Screening
Time: 4:00~4:57PM, April 20. Venue: D6 Heguang Studio, Langyuan Station
Founded in 2005, Beijing International Sports Film Week serves as an international sports film and television exchange event initiated by Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. After the Beijing Olympic Games, it was continued by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association as an important part of the Beijing Olympic City Sports Culture Festival. Since 2009, this event has officially become one of the important sub-stations of the Sport Movies & TV-Milano International FICTS FEST-World Championship Final. While introducing international excellent sports film and television works, it has been invited for "China Day" and other related activities to actively disseminate China's excellent sports film and television culture overseas as one of the important bridges for China's sports film and television culture to the world. By 2023, the Beijing International Sports Film Week has been held for 19 consecutive years, with nearly 200 excellent works competing for the awards at the Sport Movies & TV-Milano International FICTS FEST-World Championship Final. Wherein, 32 works won the Mention d'Honneur. The works Beijing 2022 and Our Winter Olympics presented by the 2023 Beijing International Sports Film Week won two awards of Mention d'Honneur and five other works won the award of Special Mention.
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