Sports cinema as a factor of the integration of sport into mass culture

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Kolobova E. Y.
St.Petersburg State University of Film and Television (Saint Petersburg).
Email: jenechos@list.ru
Rubtsova M. V.
Saint-Petersburg State University (Saint Petersburg).
Stepantseva O. A.
St.Petersburg State University of Film and Television (Saint Petersburg).
Berezhnaya Elena Alexandrovna
St.Petersburg State University of Film and Television (Saint Petersburg).

No. 9, pp. 110–112

Published: 25.09.2026

CC BY-SA 4.0

Abstract

Objective of the study is to reveal the role of sports cinema in the transformation of sport from an elitist or subcultural phenomenon into a universal means of mass communication. Methods and structure of the study. With the help of comparative analysis, structural-logical methods and content analysis of open information sources, the role of sports cinema in mass culture was revealed both at the international level and in developed countries. Results and conclusions. Since the leading role in world cinematography was played by Hollywood cinema, which set the tone and standards of a quality film product, the genre format also relied on the films released by Hollywood, which popularised the theme of sport in the established genres of cinematography. Nevertheless, sports cinema in the cinematography of developed countries is based on the policy of the film studios, the demands of society and state support. Sports cinematography makes it possible to consider not only genre films and documentary cinema, but also sporting motifs in other genres and, accordingly, their integration into mass culture, which is expressed in the functions of the sports film: myth-making (the creation of heroic narratives), socialising (the transmission of values) and commercialising.

KEYWORDS

sports cinema, mass culture, sport, sports, cinematography, cinema, sports theme, society.

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