The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 p.m. China Standard Time (UTC+8) on August 8, 2008, as 8 is considered to be a lucky number in Chinese culture. Featuring more than 15,000 performers, the ceremony lasted over four hours and cost over $100 million USD to produce.
The Closing Ceremony of the XXXI st Olympiad.
The opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics took place at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia, on 7 February 2014. It began at 20:14 MSK (UTC+4) and finished at 23:02 MSK (UTC+4) This was the first Winter Olympics and first Olympic Games opening ceremony under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach. The Games were officially opened by President Vladimir Putin. An audience of 40,000 were in attendance at the stadium with an estimated 2,000 performers. The ceremony touched upon various aspects of Russian history, and included tributes to famous Russians, such as Peter Tchaikovsky (1840–1893), Ukrainian-born Russian humourist, dramatist, and novelist Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948), ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950), and patron of arts, and founder of Ballet Russes, Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929).
On Saturday, July 27, 1996, a terrorist’s bomb exploded in Centennial Olympic Park at the Atlanta Summer Games, killing two and injuring 111. The toll would have been far higher if not for security guard Richard Jewell, who discovered the bag holding the bomb and helped clear the area. Yet within hours, praise of his heroism turned to vicious accusations. Jewell would be hounded for months by investigations and the media. Eventually, the FBI would capture and convict Eric Robert Rudolph for the crime. Judging Jewell revisits the scene in Atlanta where Richard Jewell, a man simply doing his job, lost the one thing he valued most — his honor.
Letter from Tokyo is a documentary film that looks at art, culture and politics in Tokyo, Japan. Shot over three months during the summer of 2018, and with a particular focus on grass roots arts initiatives, the use of public space, and queer politics, the film provides a snapshot of Japan’s capital in the run up to the 2020 olympics.
Documentary footage recaptures the excitement of the 1948 London Olympics, the first games since 1936.
On February 4, 2022, the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games was held at the Beijing National Stadium.
In the run-up, everything actually spoke against the Chinese capital as the host of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing is neither a winter sports region nor are human rights respected in China. The IOC obviously didn't care. Topics such as sustainability, freedom of expression and climate protection were also pushed aside. It's about power and profit instead of the Olympic idea and its values. But more and more athletes are speaking up and calling for a reform of the Olympic Games. A pioneer in this matter is ARD Olympic expert Felix Neureuther, a former alpine skier, who sucked up the Olympic spirit with his mother's milk, because his parents are alpine ski legend Rosi Mittermaier, double gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, and father Christian, a ski racer, who took part three times at the Olympics. Based on interviews with athletes, experts, IOC officials and persecuted Uyghurs, Felix gets a glimpse behind the scenes of the Olympic system.
After three unsuccessful attempts at the Olympics, the 30-year-old Aljona Savchenko finally wants to win a gold medal with a new partner in four years. A rather bold plan, especially since the young Frenchman Bruno Massot, chosen by the German-Ukrainian ice princess, has no international successes in pairs figure skating. He moves to Germany and has no idea of the manic perfectionist he's getting involved with. Aljona's training is tough. Constant disputes about the right course threaten to bring the project to failure. Two completely different characters collide. However, the team of trainers manages to calm things down. February 2018: The competition at the Winter Olympics in South Korea begins with the short program. Inexplicably, Bruno blunders and the pair sit fourth by a wide gap. Gold is hardly possible anymore. It only remains for them to show the world their unique free skating. Their intoxicating, perfect run will go down in history. It will be the free skating of their life!
Magic in the Mountains tells the remarkable underdog story of how Squaw Valley, a little-known ski area in California, won the bid for the 1960 Winter Olympics and, with the help of Walt Disney, changed forever the ways in which the Games were presented. The documentary features never-before-seen archival footage from the 1960 Olympic Games and revealing interviews with participating athletes and attendees. The 1960 edition of the Olympics introduced a substantial array of “firsts,” including such innovations as live broadcast, instant replay, sponsorships, and an official Olympic Village for the athletes. Perhaps most importantly, thanks to Disney’s involvement in producing the Games, Squaw Valley featured an unprecedented — but soon to be standard — level of pageantry for the opening and closing ceremonies.
On February 20, 2022, the closing ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympic Games was held at the Beijing National Stadium.
This Nazi propaganda film covers the 1936 Winter Olympics that were held in Germany.
Eighteen year old Irma Testa is Italy’s first female boxer to make it to the Olympics. It’s a remarkable outcome for a girl raised in one of the poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhoods of Naples.. The more Irma succeeds though, the more fragile she becomes. After a crushing defeat at the Games in Rio, she questions whether boxing is her future. She wants to chart her own path, but must first take a hard look at her personal life which she has avoided for so long.
A film about one of the most iconic images of the 20th century, the moment when the radical spirit of the 1960s upstaged the greatest sporting event in the world. Two men made a courageous gesture that reverberated around the world, and changed their lives forever. This film is about Tommie Smith and John Carlos' protest at the 1968 Olympics.
Hitler, Nazi propaganda and 1936 Berlin Olympics are put under the microscope to uncover hidden truths and the historical legacy of those games.
The Fall tells the remarkable story of a South African barefoot runner, an American track-and-field prodigy, and the events behind one of the most memorable moments in sporting history – the 1984 LA Olympics. The film charts two journeys, from rural South Africa under apartheid and the rolling hills of Southern California, to the starting line of the women’s 3,000 metres. It uncovers a tale of betrayal and exploitation, of the blurred lines between politics, media and sport, and of the dedication and sacrifice required to compete at the highest level. It’s a story that split governments and divided nations, but at its heart is a tale of two young women who, despite the turmoil in their lives, just wanted to run.
The world couldn't keep its eyes off two athletes at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer - Nancy Kerrigan, the elegant brunette from the Northeast, and Tonya Harding, the feisty blonde engulfed in scandal. Just weeks before the Olympics on Jan. 6, 1994 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Kerrigan was stunningly clubbed on the right knee by an unknown assailant and left wailing, "Why, why, why?" As the bizarre "why" mystery unraveled, it was revealed that Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, had plotted the attack with his misfit friends to literally eliminate Kerrigan from the competition. Now two decades later, THE PRICE OF GOLD takes a fresh look through Harding's turbulent career and life at the spectacle that elevated the popularity of professional figure skating and has Harding still facing questions over what she knew and when she knew it.
While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, director Bryan Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s “anti-doping” program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine samples, and badly administered hormone injections, Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer despite shocking allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program.
At the Winter Olympics of 1980, after two tense weeks amidst growing Cold War fears, the U.S. Olympic hockey team found themselves playing improbably against the legendary unbeatable Soviet Army hockey team for Olympic Gold. From the live footage taken at Lake Placid, NY, and through interviews beginning with the team's assembly through the experience of winning the gold medal.
The life of the Schouten family revolves around tulips and top sport. Together they run a large international tulip company and children Irene and Simon skate at world top level. When mother Jolanda unexpectedly needs a lot of care and attention due to a brain haemorrhage, everything changes. How does the family relate to each other, skating and the company in this new situation?