Olympic mascots descend on Toronto Carnival

Olympic mascots descend on Toronto Carnival

Toronto's annual Carnival opened last weekend. This year, the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing became the theme for the grand celebration, in Canada's largest city.

The most popular cartoon figures turn out to be the Fuwas, who  happen to be the official mascots for the Beijing Games. (Photo: CCTV.com)

The most popular cartoon figures turn out to be the Fuwas,who happen to be the official mascots for the Beijing Games. The Fuwas ubiquitous presence at the city-wide carnival, helped enflame the city with Olympic spirit.

Local residents took pictures of the five mascots and got swept up in the festive spirit of this year's Games. There's a carnival quiz. Every one of the questions relates to the history of the Olympic Movement.

 

The opening ceremony for International Sports Film Week started with a rite of blessing. Sports and film stars hung cards on a "blessing tree" offering best wishes to the people in the earthquake-stricken Sichuan.

Forty-five sports films from fifteen countries are competing for honours at the event. Twenty-three of those are from China. Among the Chinese films are "One Person's Olympics" and "Mymyti's 2008". "Mymyti" won the top price at the Beijing Student Film Festival earlier this year.

The Beijing Sports Film Week will hold an expo of sports films from Japan and South Korea. There'll be a forum on the genre. A screening tour to villages across China is also planned.

The forty-five sports films competing at the event are screening at ten cinemas in Beijing. Venues include China's Film Archives' Museum and Beijing's Youth Palace. Admission prices are nominal at 10 yuan. The turnout is expected to be large.

There was an announcement at the opening ceremony that a copy of the film "Dream 2008" has been collected by the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. The flick was shot by China's Central Newsreel Film Studio. It examines the affect of the Olympics on ordinary people in China. And it chronicles the process of the Game's preparation. The film earned high praise from the International Olympic Committee. Some foreign film agencies including America's NBC are consulting with the Chinese producers , in the hope of broadcasting the film to an international audience.