Project Detail

Ping Pong

Synopsis

Pensioners from across the planet compete in the over-80s World Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia. The film weaves a competition narrative with candid portraits of life back home that explore the hope, regret and immediacy of growing old.
8 players with 703 years between them guide us through the extraordinary world of Veteran sports. 81-year old Englishman Terry, recovering from life-threatening cancer, battles to retain his gold medal title. At 99, Australian legend Dorothy de Low creates a sensation as the oldest competitor at the Championships. German newcomer Inge, aged 89, has fought her way out of a dementia ward using the power of ping pong. This film is as much about the tenacity of the human spirit as it is a meditation on mortality.
Right now 1 in 6 people on the planet are over the age of 60. By 2030 that figure will be 1 in every 4. From the outset the film challenges perceptions of what it is to grow old. With humour and sensitivity it engages with the issues we all face in an ageing global population.

Details

Year
2012
Type of project
Features
Running time
75 mins
Format
HD
Director
Hugh Hartford 1st Feature
Producer
Anson Hartford
Executive Producer
Maxyne Franklin, Beadie Finzi
Editor
John Mister
Screenwriter
Hugh Hartford, Anson Hartford
Sound
Daniel Chu Owen
Composer
Orlando Roberton

Genre

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Banyak Films

Temple Works
Brett Passage
London
E8 1JR
Tel: +44 (0)20 8533 1240

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