Project Detail

Ping Pong

Name: Ping Pong
Director: Hugh Hartford
Genre: Sport
Released: 2012
Duration: 75 mins

banyak films 2012

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.

Visit Film Website

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

Sport

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Banyak Films

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

Visit Website

www.banyak.co.uk

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

Edinburgh has a developed network of greenways. One key 60 year old route, The Roseburn Path, is under threat of being significantly transformed into a Tramway. The documentary explores the history, development, social and wellbeing benefits for residents of the path and contrasts the competing needs of development and connectivity.

Climate / Environment Disabilities History Scottish

Two Pids

Director: John Smith

Year: 2026

After the world premiere of his film Being John Smith at the Toronto International Film Festival, an unexpected encounter in a hotel elevator leads the filmmaker to question the nature of reality.

Biography Experimental