In mid-January, on the ice rink of the All-Star Skating Club at the Mercedes-Benz Cultural Center in Shanghai, a group of teenagers were practicing skating, swinging their clubs from time to time and pushing a small black rubber ball, a hockey ball.
They practice the basics of hockey. Under the call of the implementation outline of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", domestic ice and snow sports have accelerated the pace of "expanding from the south to the west and expanding to the east", and the flowers of ice and snow have successively bloomed throughout the country.
As a competition project of the Winter Olympic Games, ice hockey plays a role in promoting national fitness and promoting the integration of Cultural exchanges between China and the West. Especially near the Winter Olympics, the boom in ice and snow sports has further struck, and this niche sport has begun to be known to more people.
Meanwhile, a recently released documentary about the sport of hockey, Moments on Ice, has sparked discussion. This documentary directed by young director Liu Hanxiang, led by the sport of ice hockey, lasted more than 1,000 days and nights, spanning China, Russia, Canada, Sweden and other countries and regions, and recorded a series of growth stories brought by the dreams of three ice hockey teenagers and the families behind them.
The documentary "Moments on Ice" has received recognition and praise since the preparation of the project, won the best documentary proposal in the documentary laboratory of the FIRST Youth Film Festival, and was shortlisted for the venture capital project of the IDF Westlake International Documentary Conference. Unfortunately, due to the lack of scheduling, many people have not yet had the opportunity to go to the cinema to enjoy this documentary.
Recently, we contacted director Liu Hanxiang, who is busy screening across the country, in order to let more people see this documentary, he has never been keen on social networks, and he has to brush the screen on the circle of friends and Weibo. The curse of the documentary "applause or not to be applauded" seems to be repeated on him. Many of his previous documentaries are well known on Douban, and they are all members of the "8-point club".
At the same time, through the perspective outside the documentary, we also contacted Liu Ren, a well-known ice hockey coach in Shanghai, to talk to him about the unknown things behind the seemingly niche sport of ice hockey. Unknown persistence and dedication
In the summer of 2018, a beijing club reorganized a junior ice hockey team with a group of children born in 2009.
The team's No. 97 Zhai Zinan is a calm, relatively independent and strong internal driving player, he grew up in a relatively democratic and relaxed family atmosphere, and has set a firm ambition to play North American professional games at a young age. In order to realize Zhai Zinan's ice hockey dream, his mother gave up her career and took Zhai Zinan to Canada to study ice hockey, while also supervising his studies not to fall behind.
No. 66 Yu Lifan gave the impression that he had a soft and serious personality. In training, his father will always put away the soft side of the child in his heart, train Yu Lifan in the most rigorous way, and help him continuously make progress in technology.
No. 95 Qu Ruichen is active, somewhat rebellious, fast on the ice, very aggressive. Qu Ruichen, who has gained happiness and confidence in ice hockey, regards ice hockey as his only dream, and still insists on himself in the face of his father's suggestion that he "does not need to be so serious about ice hockey" when he is sad about his hard work.
This is the documentary "Moments on Ice", a story that focuses on the pre-professional athlete.
With the question of "why do they want to play ice hockey", Liu Hanxiang and these parents learned after some communication that it is different from children who feel novel about ice and snow, and then from novelty to love ice hockey. Many parents initially used ice hockey as a means of educating their children, and they enrolled their children in many interest classes, such as ice hockey, piano, painting, and so on. But in this process, parents not only decide to let their children continue to learn ice hockey out of their children's love for ice hockey, but also because practicing ice hockey can help children master the ability of teamwork and practice bravery.
Director Liu Hanxiang, who has many years of rich experience in shooting children's documentaries, told reporters that every professional athlete has experienced a process from hobby to career in the stage of young growth.
"Most of what we see now is what kind of achievements he has achieved as a professional athlete, but we don't actually see how he got to the athlete step when he was young, and what kind of efforts his family has made because of him."
Directed by Liu Hanxiang
In Liu Hanxiang, a small dream may be a big thing for three generations of a family.
"On the one hand, 'Ice Moments' let the audience understand what sportsmanship is, on the other hand, it also saw the story behind a child becoming a professional athlete, as well as his family's choices and dedication."
In this regard, ice hockey coach Liu Ren also has a deep understanding. Liu Ren was born and raised in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, unique geographical conditions and his father's love of ice hockey, so that Liu Ren was particularly fond of ice hockey when he was a child, and began to learn to skate at the age of five, and then began to contact ice hockey. His talent led to his selection by the school team when he was in elementary school, where he received professional training and participated in various ice hockey matches.
"My father loved ice hockey since he was a child, but he had to give up because he injured his ankle."
Liu Ren said. Because of this, the whole family is full of expectations for Liu Ren and pins their hopes on him, hoping that he can play hockey well. Since embarking on the path of ice hockey, his family will accompany him every time there is a game. It was with his unremitting efforts and the full support and encouragement of his family that Liu Ren became an outstanding ice hockey player.
Even after retiring in 2010, he did not choose to give up his hockey career, but came to Shanghai to become a professional ice hockey coach and referee. During the Winter Olympics, Liu Ren, as a technical officer of ice hockey, will continue to contribute to the cause of ice hockey.
After winning the shanghai primary and secondary school ice games ice hockey junior high school group championship, coach Liu Ren's photo documentary with students is going to go to the opposite of entertainment
As early as college, Liu Hanxiang filmed "Ma Lan's Song", which is known as the Chinese version of "The Spring of the Cattle Herding Class". This documentary tells the story of a group of children born in a remote mountain village but with musical dreams, and with the help of their teachers, they realize their musical dreams. Since then, Liu Hanxiang has filmed documentaries on children's themes such as "Summer Mobile Cinema".
Why do you have such a passion for children's subjects? Liu Hanxiang recalled his childhood to reporters. Although reckless, there has been a lot of friction with the world around them. But fortunately, he still maintained the joy of childhood, and in his opinion, a good childhood would heal a lifetime. Quoting Zhu Fengming, he concluded,
"In my childhood, although my family was poor, I didn't feel much sorrow or how complicated people were."
In this way, having a pleasant experience of his own childhood, as well as his innate love for the natural healing face of a child, became the reason why he focused on children's documentaries.
"I also thought about backing down, but in the end I listened to my inner voice."
At present, in this impetuous era, what kind of documentary do we need? For this issue, Liu Hanxiang also put forward his own understanding. He said documentaries must go to the opposite side of entertainment. First of all, we must face the present, do not hunt for curiosity, and face the reality in front of us; secondly, to be sincere, the documentary relies on sincerity to impress people, which is also the social value of the documentary; there is also to condense, to see the big in the small, the beauty of the pearl comes from the creator's refinement of life and inner torment. While it's a tough road, the lack of a commercial element means it can't directly attract capital and audiences. But he believes that the well-educated generation will gradually take this seriously.
The reason why the documentary is a national album is because a good documentary has a very high documentary historical value. "Ice Moment" not only records the spiritual history of three children, the cultivation history of three families, but also records the growth history of ice hockey players.
"A good documentary is the art of time, the companionship of life. I think the documentary should look at the present, see the mood of the times, and leave a sample that the public can talk about from different angles. ”