The seventh Beijing International Film Festival kicked off on Sunday in the capital of China. Hundreds of movie stars and directors from China and abroad attended the opening ceremony held in Beijing’s northeastern suburb of Huairou.
The Beijing International Film Festival will be held from April 16 to 23.
The jury
Danish national treasure-level director Bille August heads the jury for the main competition, where 15 films are shortlisted for various sections of the festival's Tiantan Awards.
Danish director Bille August /VCG Photo
The international committee consists of six members, including Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, Italian producer Paolo Del Brocco, Chinese actress Jiang Wenli, Romanian film director Radu Jude, American director Rob Minkoff, and French actor Jean Reno.
Films in competition
The festival received 424 entries from 59 countries and regions on six continents, including 274 international films and 150 domestic films.
After five rounds of selection, 15 films from 19 countries are nominated for the "Tiantan Award," including two Chinese films – "Operation Mekong" and "Mr. No Problem”. The other 13 films are from other countries, including "A Kid" from France and "Two Lottery Tickets" from Romania.
Film poster of "Operation Mekong" /VCG Photo
History of the festival
Founded in 2011, the annual Beijing International Film Festival is supported and sponsored by the municipal government of Beijing.
The festival has the core value of exploring and promoting crossover interaction. Since its launch, it has been heavily attended by Hollywood executives, directors, producers and studio heads.
At the sixth Beijing International Film Festival in 2016, agreements worth more than 16.3 billion yuan (2.5 billion US dollars) were signed.
Celebrities at the opening ceremony of 7th Beijing International Film Festival on April 16, 2017. /VCG Photo
Beijing Film Panorama
Together with the film festival, the Beijing Film Panorama has become a carnival for movie fans, screening many outstanding foreign films and classic Chinese films that never had the chance for wide screenings before.
This year, nearly 500 such films will be screened in 30 theaters in Beijing for 16 days. The Beijing Film Panorama screenings started one week earlier than the film festival, from April 8.
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