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Beijing film fest announces A-list jury and events

By Zhang Rui: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, March 20, 2015

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The 5th Beijing International Film Festival will have an A-list jury headed by French director Luc Besson and will host a variety of film activities in April, organizers said on Thursday.

A poster for the 5th Beijing International Film Festival. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Chaired by Luc Besson, the jury for the film festival's Tiantan Awards will consist of several world-renowned directors, screenwriters, actors and actresses, including Russian actor, director and producer Fedor Bondarchuk; Hong Kong director and producer Peter Chan; American screenwriter and filmmaker Robert Mark Kamen; South Korean director and screenwriter Kim Ki-duk; Brazilian film producer, director, and screenwriter Fernando Meirelles; and Chinese actress Zhou Xun.

Besson, a pivotal figure in the “Cinéma du look” movement, is well-known in China for his 1994 classic "Léon: The Professional" and more. His latest film, "Lucy," took in 275 million yuan (US$44.17 million) at China's box offices and was one of the top-grossing films in 2014. Six film masterpieces by Besson from different periods will be screened at the festival as a tribute.

The jury will vote on 10 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. They will present the 10 Tiantan Awards during the festival's closing ceremony on April 23.

A total of 930 films from 90 countries and regions -- of which 122 are Chinese films -- have signed up for the Tiantan Awards competition. Several international films selected for competition will have their international premieres at the festival.

Seven major events form the Tiantan Awards competition: the Competition Section, the Opening Ceremony, Beijing Film Panorama, Theme Forum, Film Market, Film Carnival, and the Closing and Awards Ceremony. The Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony will both be held at the Huairou International Convention & Exhibition Center, Yanqi Lake, Beijing on April 16 and April 23, respectively. More than 360 great domestic and foreign films -- including latest Oscar-winner "Birdman," "The Godfather" trilogy and a special IMAX edition of "Avatar" -- will be screened in over 30 cinemas and colleges in Beijing during the Beijing Film Panorama. A total of 1,531 films from 103 countries and regions registered for the Beijing Film Panorama, but only about 200 foreign films that have never been shown in China have been selectedTwenty-one of these films are recent movies that received awards at international Category-A film festivals or the Academy Awards in the past two years.

Apart from the seven major events listed above, the film festival is also going to host over 100 events including “New Focus,” “Forward Future,” documentary screenings, Classical Peking Opera film screenings, a concert of film music, red carpet events for international film premieres, a meet and greet with producers and a conference on new film releases.

The year 2015 also marks the 120th birthday of the film industry in the world and the 110th birthday of the Chinese film industry. Two concerts, "The Centennial Classic Film Concert" and "The World-Famous Works Film Concert," will be staged to mark these anniversaries.

Organizers said the Beijing film festival is steadily working towards its goal of "developing into the best film festival in Asia and ranking among the top three film festivals in the world" by developing, improving, and strengthening the festival’s unique focus on "3M (Master, Mass, Market)" and establishing a corresponding organization style.

The annual Beijing International Film Festival will be held in Beijing from April 16 to 23.

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