A "Citizen's Carnival" will be added to the Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), which holds its second edition next year (23-28 April 2012).

The Carnival is aimed at greater involvement of the local public and will include outdoor film screenings, public performances, merchandise sales and meetings between industry and public.

The changes were announced yesterday by BJIFF organisers at a press conference which also included their conclusions about this year's preliminary event and details of changes for the 2012 spectacle.

Other changes include a greater use of locations in and around the Olympic Park and the ditching of Jackie Chan and Zhang Ziyi as festival spokesmen.

Market organisers recently told Film Business Asia that they would also change 2012 hotel arrangements in response to problems at last year's edition when buyers and sellers were hosted at separate hotels with little opportunity to interact.

The organisers said that some 700 Chinese and foreign film institutions and some 2,000 guests attended the 2011 event and that some 10,000 Beijing residents watched the 230 films presented.

They claimed that RMB279 million ($44.3 million) of deals were concluded at the festival's market strands.

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