Beijing International Sports Film Week
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Olympic City: Beijing
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Country: China
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Edition of the Games: 2008 Olympic Summer Games
Founded in 2005, Beijing International Sports Film Week (BISFW) is the cultural heritage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and has now been successfully held for 11 editions. The project is organised by the Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA), whose mission is to carry forward the Olympic spirit, to expand the Olympic achievements and to promote the cause of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement and sustainable development in the city.
BISFW selects dozens of outstanding sports films and TV productions from both home and abroad each year, and screens them to sports enthusiasts and film lovers free of charge. More than 300 works from over 30 countries and regions have been screened in almost 1,000 sessions over the last decade.
Since the project’s inception, about 100,000 film viewers have been offered the opportunity to appreciate various outstanding works and partake in related sports and cultural events through the platform of BISFW. In addition to the thousands of film viewers, tens of thousands of participants are reached annually through side events. The target audience includes sports enthusiasts, film buffs, youth, professionals in the sport industry, press and media as well as the general public.
As a part of the World Final of the Milano International FICTS Festival, more than twenty of the sports films and TV productions recommended by BISFW have been granted various awards, which have, to some extent, propelled the internationalisation of Chinese sports films and TV productions.
Celebrate Olympism and its values
Born during the preparation for Beijing 2008, the BISFW, exploits both the tangible and intangible assets of the Games in order to celebrate Olympism each year. Through sports films and TV communications, the touching stories behind sports are showcased to a wide audience. In addition, the event places importance on featuring sports history and sports cultures of different nations around the world
Promote a healthy and active lifestyle
Through sports-related culture communication and activities, the BISFW aims to inspire and encourage the Chinese people to participate in sports and fitness events. A specific effort is made to encourage the youth.
Promote the City by leveraging its affiliation with the Olympic Movement
The BISFW provides the opportunity to promote the creation of more Chinese sports films and TV productions and enhance the exchange in the international sports films and television culture in order to improve the narration of Chinese sports stories. By supporting the development of sports films and TV productions, the aim is to gain awareness and recognition for outstanding Chinese works on the world stage.
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Evaluation
The event is evaluated in audience number, films projected, awarded works in Milano, media exposure etc. on a yearly basis.
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Key Challenges
Using sports film to promote wider values and policies and sensitize a larger audience
Through sports films and TV communication, BISFW aims at showcasing the touching stories behind sports, history and sports cultures of different nations and countries. BISFW also encourages the whole nation to participate in sports and fitness activities, above all for the youth. It fully exploits the tangible and intangible assets of the Games.
Improving the narrative of Chinese Sports Stories
By encouraging and promoting the creation of more Chinese sports film and TV productions as well as enhancing international exchange in this area one year after the other, BISFW allows film-making related skills to improve and stories to be better disseminated. Perpetuation of BISFW is key in the preservation and development of these skills.
Expanding the scale of the project
Since the conclusion of the Olympic Games in 2008, there has been no sustainable marketing for the BISFW project. The project is currently fully funded solely by BODA. As a result, it proves difficult to further expand the scale and influence of the project.
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Key Learnings & Recommendations
Combine with sports and cultural events
The BISFW has made a strong effort to combine its activities with other sport and cultural events. Thus, included is the incorporation of fairs and exhibitions related to sports and culture as well as sport events that were organised in the city’s squares. These events encouraged the enthusiasm of the public to appreciate sports films and to participate in the sport activities.
Develop partnerships to achieve mutual success
BISFW has created a platform to showcase the culture of sports films and TV productions. The Film Week has benefited from active participation of different institutes (including national and international institutes of both public and private nature). The partnerships with these institutes enriched the content of the event and played a critical role in enhancing the platform.
More information
The full case is available in printable version on the members’ portal.
In addition to the above description, the PDF version also gathers practical information including internal and external partners involved; finance and cost; use of the olympic brand; human resources and time; and contact details.
The World Union of Olympic Cities’ team remains at your disposal for any further information and contact’s facilitation at info@olympiccities.org
Additional resources can be found through the following links:
