With Hong Kong athletes Edgar Cheung Ka-long and Siobhan Haughey winning a record 3 medals for our city at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, many students and their families have turned their attention to the Games this year. 

Not surprisingly, filmmaking isn’t one of the official Olympic sports. But film has always had an important presence throughout the history of the Olympics, up until today. So what are the connections between the international sporting event and the universal art form?

1. They were born in the same city, at the same time

In 1894, the International Olympic Committee was established in Paris, and two years later, the first Olympic Games in modern history were held in Athens. During this same period and also in Paris, early film pioneers the Lumière brothers held one of the first ever paid public screenings of short films, giving birth to the idea of the cinema. From then on, the Olympics and film have only continued to grow, intersecting at numerous important points in history.

2. Hitler used both as propaganda

Known also as the Nazi Olympics, the 1936 Olympic Games were hosted by Adolf Hitler in Berlin. Hitler and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels saw the Olympics as an opportunity to camouflage the racism of the Nazis, and recruited famed filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to create its official film. Despite its problematic origin, Riefenstahl’s film (Olympia) is noteworthy for its artistry in capturing the Games, influencing future sports filmmakers.

3. Both showcased Japan’s recovery from World War II

Like this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, the first Tokyo Games, due to take place in 1940, were disrupted by a global crisis (at that time, World War II). Twenty-four years later, the 1964 Tokyo Games provided an opportunity to project a new vision of Japan to the world. The Japanese government carefully selected renowned director Kon Ichikawa for this task. Like Riefenstahl, Ichikawa brought a strong artistic vision to the film, Tokyo Olympiad, which is now considered one of the best sports documentaries of all time.

4. Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou has directed for both

Film director Zhang Yimou was selected to direct the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the first time the Games were held in China. Acclaimed internationally for his films (Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern, and Hero), Zhang brought the themes of harmony and peace he explored in his films to the ceremonies, resulting in a spellbinding spectacle considered the “greatest ever” in the history of the Olympics.

5. Both carry on a tradition of over 100 years

Since 1912, over fifty-three films have been made at the Olympics. Aside from Riefenstahl and Ichikawa, other major directors, such as Claude Lelouch and Miloš Forman, have directed these official films. This year, Japanese director Naomi Kawase will be the fifth woman to ever direct for the Olympics. “[I’ve been given] the chance to record this wonderful celebration of sport that connects people, and to leave a legacy for generations to come,” she said, further deepening the century-old connections between the Olympics and film.