Acclaimed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou said that the Beijing Winter Games' closing ceremony, to be held Sunday, will reflect and be tied to the 2008 Summer Olympics, for which he also orchestrated the ceremonies.
The closing ceremony of the 17-day athletic event will retain the values of "simple, safe and splendid" of this year's games while also being "simple, beautiful and romantic," he told Kyodo News in a recent written interview.
He added that "no popular singers will appear," and the ceremony will highlight "everyday people."
This year's Olympic torch was carried by Dinigeer Yilamujiang, a Uyghur cross-country skier from the far-western Xinjiang region, where the United States claims the Chinese government is waging "genocide" and conducting human rights abuses.
The renowned filmmaker did not respond to Kyodo's question about the reasons for choosing Yilamujiang as one of the two final torchbearers, which critics called a move by Beijing to detract attention from the human rights issue.
Zhang also refused to answer questions about the "diplomatic boycott" organized by the United States not to send officials to the event.
The opening event's lighting ceremony forewent tradition, with Zhang discarding the large torch cauldron. Instead, it was replaced with a large snowflake composed of smaller ones bearing the names of participating countries.
"It expressed the hope for a humanity where everyone is united as if to protect a small flame, while in a world with drastic changes and hardships," he explained of the creation.
"I didn't think that a large torch fit with the value of environmental protection, so I challenged myself to something new," he added.
He also said that he was inspired by the idea of unity emphasized during the 2020 Summer Olympics hosted by Tokyo, which was pushed back by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Zhang said that it took some time to gain permission from the International Olympic Committee to change the usual format as it had never been done before.
The opening ceremony still held onto some tradition as it featured "Imagine" by John Lennon, just as for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. Zhang said he was asked by the IOC to do so.
"I don't know much about its background since I am Chinese, but I thought it was a good song about humanity's hope," he said.
The director of acclaimed films such as "Red Sorghum," "Raise the Red Lantern" and "House of Flying Daggers" has won several international film awards, even offending Chinese censors in the past.
"One can make movies all your life, but it's only once that you can oversee two Olympics ceremonies in succession," he said about his unique position of being the first to do so for both the summer and winter events.
