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Original Film Title: Beneath the Surface (of Ice)
Director’s Name: Zhang Xiquan
Producer: Zhang Xiquan
Country of Origin: China
Country of Filming: China
Language: Chinese
Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes 20 seconds
Film Description:
This is a biography of a girl from an ordinary family. The documentary tells the story of Sui Wenjing, pair skating athlete who has changed her fortune through sport, a path full of hardships and injuries. Divided into multiple chapters, the conversations and records of live experiences constitute an inspiring tale. In the 10 years documenting her life, the director captured the moment when she got the gold medal of pair skating in 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the ninth gold medal of the Chinese team. This gold medal is also the highlight of her career, and the hard-earned reward for all her efforts and sacrifices in these years.
But for her, she felt ‘devoted to two or three causes in the journey of life, while the Olympics only occupied a few days’.
Taking her gender as a starting point, the documentary presents her different facets: her loving family, her friends, her emotions, her pains and her tiredness. She is also reflective, and accepts new things eagerly. Peering into her inner world, is it black and whit, or colorful? What else are there beneath the surface of her skating career? Though she is an Olympic champion, the documentary strives to strives to show her as an individual coming from humble background , instead of the stereotypical emotionless athlete. ‘Beneath the surface’ is the core of this film.
How has she achieved success?