MILAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua/Liu Yang, Peng Zhuo) -- The 40th Sport Movies & TV-Milano International FICTS FEST-World Championship Final unveiled winners of various awards at the Auditorium Testori of Palazzo Lombardia on November 11, 2023. Chinese films, namely the Beijing 2022 and Me and My Winter Games, won the Guirlande d’Honneur while other 5 entries received the Mention d’Honneur.
Representatives of winning films take a group photo on November 11. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)
The official film of the Beijing 2022—Beijing 2022 won the Guirlande d’Honneur in the Olympic and Paralympic category. The winning film introduces stories behind China’s concerted efforts to organize the winter Olympic Games, and fully realize its bidding commitments. Based on the main storylines, namely “Beijing—venue construction” and “athletes—FOP comeback”, the film depicts how those involved in the winter Olympics with dreams overcome all kinds of difficulties, make breakthroughs, and finally realize their dreams via the Games throughout the planning, preparation and waiting stages. The Beneath the Surface (of Ice), a biographical feature film about Olympic gold medalist in figure skating—Sui Wenjing, got the Mention d’Honneur in the category.
The Me and My Winter Games became winner of the Guirlande d’Honneur in the Movies category. The film was jointly created by more than 1,300 animators. Classic animation characters, such as Monkey King, Inspector Black Cat, Nezha and Calabash Brother, and currently popular ones, like Briar and Bramble, and new hit animations for young people, such as Non-Human and Luo Xiaohei, made appearance. It’s made up of four chapters, telling stories about how Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, mascots of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics respectively, pursue love and benevolence together with those animation characters. It was the very first film about mascots authorized by the IOC in addition to the production of official films of the Olympic Games. The Ping Pong: Triumph that pays tribute to the spirit of China’s ping pong sport received the Mention d’Honneur in the category.
As Wang Zheng, producer and director of the film, stated, “It’s my great pleasure to receive the Guirlande d’Honneur. The award recognizes the collective artistic creation of over 1,300 Chinese animators, and makes classic Chinese animation characters visible worldwide.”
Wang Zheng, producer and director of the Me and My Winter Games, receives the Guirlande d’Honneur at the award ceremony held on November 11. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)
In the Movies & TV Football - Short category, the Crazy Chinese Country Football, which presents the “village premiere football league” in Guizhou, won the Mention d’Honneur. And the One Fan Wants to See Himself Running, a film about the disabled and sports, won the Mention d’Honneur in the Fast Sport Stories. The Twinkling Eyes on the Ice, presented by the Xinhua News Agency about ice hockey boys, was nominated in the Sport, Mountains and Olympism - Snow & Ice Sports category.
While Gao Yunchao, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA), was interviewed after the award ceremony, he said, “The numerous winning Chinese entries prove that the narration, production and culture of Chinese sports films have gained recognition from international counterparts, show the overall strength of Chinese sports films, and inject vitality into the field of international sports films. We will continue to help more outstanding sports films and TV series go global, and allow the world to understand and love Chinese sports stories and culture. Meanwhile, we are devoted to facilitating exchanges and cooperation in Chinese and international sports films and TV series, and contribute to the making and development of Chinese films and TV series.”