In Paris, the torch will be lit for The Games of the XXXIII (33rd) Olympiad. Some 10,500 athletes from 200 countries and committees will compete in more than 325 events, showcasing the heights of athletic achievement. In advance of the action, we here at DIRECTV can’t make you into an Olympic athlete, but we can turn you into an expert on some of the most successful countries’ best pop culture. That includes foreign films to watch, new music to listen to and exciting adventures to plan. So find a comfortable seat, and let’s go globetrotting, DIRECTV-style.
France
Highest-grossing French movie: ‘Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis’ (‘Welcome to the Sticks’). This low-budget comedy became a sensation in 2008. Made for $17 million and grossing over $245 million worldwide, this film — with English subtitles — is directed by and stars comedian Dany Boon. The simple-but-lovable plot: An office manager is sent to a tiny northern town expecting hicks, but ultimately finding warmth and kindness instead.
French show to watch: ‘Lupin.’ This subtitled Netflix smash hit stars Omar Sy as a gentleman burglar on a quest to avenge his father, who was wrongfully accused of a crime. Often compared to Sherlock, Lupin became the first French original to chart in Netflix’s U.S. Top 10 list, and is one of Netflix’s biggest original series, regardless of language.
Most popular sport: Le Football. France, one of the 13 teams in the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, holds a special place in football history. The French national football team has won the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1998 and 2018.
Athlete to watch: Basketball player Victor Wembanyama. Drafted No. 1 by the San Antonio Spurs, the 20-year-old NBA sensation averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game to win Rookie of the Year. This will be his first Olympics, and after the team won silver at the 2020 Games, France will be looking to play spoiler on home soil.
Japan
Actor to hit it big in Hollywood: Ken Watanabe. Arguably the most notable Japanese actor in American cinema today, Watanabe is far more than the “Let them fight” gif from 2014’s Godzilla. His career skyrocketed with his role in The Last Samurai in 2003. Since then, Watanabe has landed significant roles in major American films, including Memoirs of a Geisha, Batman Begins, Letters from Iwo Jima, Inception and The Creator.
Animated film to watch: ‘The Boy and Heron.’ This past March, anime master Hayao Miyazaki picked up his second Oscar with The Boy and the Heron, winning Best Animated Feature Film. Miyazaki came out of retirement to make this film, whose win marks the 83-year-old’s second Oscar (following Spirited Away in 2002). The movie tells the story of a young boy who, after his mother’s death, moves to the countryside and encounters a magical heron. Drawing from Miyazaki’s childhood, the film explores themes of grief and hope amidst conflict and loss.
National Sport: Sumo Wrestling, but increasingly Baseball: Sumo wrestling is Japan’s ancient love, but the more modern one can be found on the diamond. Japan’s twelve professional baseball teams attract passionate fans of all ages, and the country has exported numerous players to the U.S., including Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki. The latest addition to the list: Dodgers all-everything superstar pitcher and slugger Shohei Ohtani. The sport will return to the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.
Athlete to watch: Hashimoto Daiki. At age 19 years and 355 days, Hashimoto became the youngest male gymnast to win a gold medal in the individual all-around at the Olympic Games in 2020. He also added gold in the high bar. Now 22, the four-time world champion is the one to beat in Paris.
China
Movie to watch: ‘Full River Red.’ One of the highest-grossing films in the world in 2023, Full River Red is directed by three-time Oscar nominee Zhang Yimou. The movie is a period comedy action thriller set in the late 12th century, amid a potential rebellion against the Imperial Court. Global audiences have been drawn to its humor, suspense and fantastic resolution.
The home of soccer: While England is widely regarded as the birthplace of modern soccer, the origins of the game are from ancient China. The first recorded information about “kickball,” or cuju, dates back more than 2,000 years; today, spelled as zuqiu, it remains the Chinese word for football. During the Song Dynasty, zuqiu was especially popular: One version of the sport involved keeping the ball in the air for as long as possible. Another precursor to today’s game featured teams competing to score goals.
Athlete to watch: Ma Long. Considered the greatest table tennis player of all time, the 35- year-old captains China’s team. Ma is the sport’s most decorated Olympian, with a record five gold medals, and in 2020, he became the first player to win consecutive gold medals in the men’s singles event. Ma has now slipped to No. 3 in the world, and Paris will likely be his final Games.
South Africa
Adrenaline rush: Bungee jump off the Bloukrans Bridge. Towering over 700 ft. above the Bloukrans River Gorge, this iconic bridge offers one of the highest bungee jumps in the world. Want more excitement? Add in the 650-ft.-long zipline ride from the edge of the gorge to the jump zone.
Popular Artist: Moonchild Sanelly. The trailblazing South African musician has pioneered a magnetic self-described future-ghetto-funk style. Known for her songs revolving around female empowerment, Sanelly has collaborated with global icons including Beyoncé, Diplo and Gorillaz. Recently, she released the single “Scrambled Eggs” from her highly anticipated new studio album.
Athlete to watch: Wayde van Niekerk. The 400m world record-holding runner and Olympic gold medalist will be joined in Paris this July and August by his younger sister, Kayla Swarts. Swarts is a midfielder on South Africa’s field hockey team.
Brazil
Dance: The Samba. No discussion of Brazil is complete without mentioning Carnival in Rio, where the epic Samba parades steal the show. Held at the Sambodromo, a specially designed stadium in downtown Rio, dozens of dance schools compete against each other. The largest schools vie for the prestigious title of Grand Champion, with performances that feature dancers, singers, percussion groups and more.
Movie to watch: City of God. The subtitled 2002 crime drama portrays the rise of organized crime in the Cidade de Deus — City of God — slum of Rio de Janeiro from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Based on true events, it follows the intertwining stories of a young photographer and a rising gangster. The film has earned comparisons to Goodfellas, and has been celebrated with acclaim worldwide.
Athlete to watch: Rebeca Andrade. While Simone Biles is often the first name that comes to mind for casual gymnastics fans, Andrade is poised to make her mark in Paris. The 24-year-old rose to stardom at the Tokyo Games and proved to be Biles’ biggest rival at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships — including in the vault, where she defeated Biles to clinch the gold medal.
Spain
Artist to Hear: Rosalía. Rosalía hails from Barcelona and blends hip-hop with flamenco influences in her music. She gained widespread attention with her single Malamente from the 2018 album El Mal Querer — the Bad Love. The album won a Latin Grammy Award and also earned a spot on Rolling Stone’s list of Top 500 Albums of All Time. Rosalía’s international fame soared when she collaborated with J Balvin on the hit single Con Altura — “With Height” — in 2019. The music video has been viewed more than 2 billion times on YouTube.
Film to watch: ‘Volver.’ Among U.S. audiences, Pedro Almodóvar is likely the most well-known Spanish director. The best place to start in his catalog is his 16th film, Volver (To Return). Set in Madrid and La Mancha, the supernatural tragicomedy, which stars Penélope Cruz, is about three generations of women and the events that unfold when they receive an unexpected visitor from beyond the grave.
Athlete to watch: Aitana Bonmati. The reigning women’s Ballon d’Or winner is a large reason Spain’s soccer team is ranked No. 1 in the world. Bonmati’s stellar 2023 also included being named MVP of the Women’s World Cup, as La Roja won it all. The Spanish women’s side will be competing in their first Olympics in Paris and looking to add another major trophy to their case.
Canada
Show to watch: Schitt’s Creek. The comedy, which follows a high-society family that relocates to a small town after losing their fortune, originally aired on CBC before gaining global fame on Pop TV and then Netflix. Created by stars Dan Levy and Eugene Levy — and also featuring Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy — the show swept every major comedy award at the Emmys in 2020, a first for any series.
Hollywood North: Vancouver. “Vancity,” “Vangroovy,” locals can choose their home’s nickname — folks in the entertainment business know Vancouver as Hollywood North. Thanks to lower costs, and diverse backdrops including ocean vistas, beaches, rainforests and mountains, Vancouver has steadily become a go-to location to film Hollywood hits since the X-Files in the 1990s. More recently, Vancouver has been the backdrop for TV hits like The Last of Us, Shōgun, The Night Agent and Virgin River and films including Deadpool, Star Trek and 50 Shades of Grey.
Athlete to watch: Summer McIntosh. In 2020, McIntosh, at just 14 years old, was one of the youngest swimmers competing in Tokyo. Since then, she has emerged as a teen sensation, poised to vie for multiple gold medals in Paris: McIntosh currently holds the world record in the 400m IM, briefly held the 400m freestyle world record in 2023, and is a two-time defending world champion in the 200m butterfly.
Germany
Documentary to watch: Schumacher. With the rise in popularity of Formula One racing, Netflix’s Drive to Survive isn’t the only F1 adrenaline available on the streamer. New fans and veterans alike should watch Schumacher, a documentary about legendary racer Michael Schumacher, joint holder of a record seven World Drivers’ Championships. The film traces Schumacher’s career from childhood through his Formula One years (1991-2006, 2010-2012), featuring home movies and interviews with family and friends. While it only briefly touches on the severe brain injury he suffered in a 2013 skiing accident, the documentary still offers the best look into the life of one of the greatest drivers ever.
Star of stage and screen: Marlene Dietrich. Following the global success of her 1930 appearance in the German film Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), Dietrich was catapulted to fame. Over the next decade, she became Hollywood’s femme fatale, starring opposite movie royalty such as John Wayne and Gary Cooper. In the 1950s, as her film career faded, Dietrich turned to singing, launching a successful second act as a recording artist. Her renditions of songs, such as Falling in Love Again, Lili Marleen and La Vie en rose”, became classics.
Athlete to watch: Darja Varfolomeev. The 17-year-old rhythmic gymnast won five individual gold medals at the 2023 World Championships, sweeping the event. Varfolomeev is only the second person in history to take home all of those individual medals, making her the rhythmic gymnast to beat in these Olympic Games.
Great Britain
Show to watch: Doctor Who. From Monty Python to the Great British Baking Show, there are almost too many British TV exports to name. But let’s highlight the longest-running science-fiction TV series ever: Doctor Who. In 2013, the Peabody Awards honored Doctor Who with an Institutional Peabody “for evolving with technology and the times like nothing else in the known television universe.” It’s listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful sci-fi series, based on broadcast ratings, DVD and book sales and other metrics. The show returned this past May with Ncuti Gatwa as the fifteenth time-traveling Doctor.
National sport: Cricket. It might not be the most popular sport in the UK (that’s likely soccer), and it might not be the oldest (which may well be jousting, “played” since the 10th century), but the national sport of the UK is cricket. In the late 1500s, the game was initially played on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, with what was likely a matted lump of sheep’s wool as the ball, a stick or a farm tool as the bat and a stool or a tree stump as the wicket. Today, the world-famous game is 11 players vs. 11, and international matches, consisting of four innings, can last up to five days. One of the most famous rivalries is England’s biennial battle with Australia, known as “The Ashes” thanks to a cheeky epitaph written by a British journalist lamenting England’s death after Australia’s first win on English soil.
Athlete to watch: Sky Brown. The skateboarding phenomenon has been on the international radar since a video of a 4-year-old Brown rippin’ at a halfpipe went viral in 2012. At the Tokyo Olympic Games, she became Great Britain’s youngest-ever summer Olympian at 13, winning a bronze medal in women’s park skateboarding and becoming the country’s youngest Olympic medalist. The two-time X Games champion then added her first world title in 2023. In addition, Brown is a stellar surfer, and she earned a spot as the top alternate at these Games for Great Britain’s Olympic women’s surfing team.
Australia
Show to watch: Bluey. Australia’s arguably two biggest on-screen identifiers couldn’t be more different. On TV, catch up on Bluey, the charming children’s cartoon about a family of dogs living in Brisbane: mom Chilli, dad Bandit, and their daughters, Bingo and Bluey, ages 4 and 6. The series focuses on Bluey and Bingo’s imaginative games, simultaneously entrancing children and appealing to adults with heartwarming messages. Since premiering in Australia in 2018, Bluey has won multiple awards, including from the Australian Film Institute for best children’s television drama and an International Emmy Kids Award.
Movies to watch: the Max Max franchise. From Australian filmmaker George Miller comes the Mad Max franchise, a series of dystopian dieselpunk films showing crises of capitalism in a futuristic world. The franchise includes the critically acclaimed Fury Road, arguably one of the greatest action movies ever. While the setting has always been vague — often speculated to be Australia — the latest franchise installment, Furiosa, puts the speculation to rest, zooming in at the start to the Land Down Under.
Athlete to watch: Kaylee McKeown. The 22-year-old swimmer is the reigning Olympic gold medalist and world champion in the 100m and 200m backstroke and holds the world records for both events. Her main competition at the Paris Games could be American Regan Smith — the second-fastest woman in history in these events, who took silver in both events to McKeown’s golds at the 2023 World Championships.
Explore even more Olympics 2024 goodness on Insider to keep up with the latest wins, upsets and amazing feats. And get DIRECTV to make sure you can watch it all unfold.
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