Chinese films and their stars are expected to shine at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, which opened on Wednesday, after a three-year absence from the competition.
Among the hotly tipped contenders is Chinese director Jia Zhangke's new film A Touch of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding), which has been nominated to compete against, among others, Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra and Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur.
A Touch of Sin revolves around the lives of four people living in vastly different parts of modern-day China. Their stories intertwine with one another throughout the film.
"It is more like a road movie if you put it in the Western genre. It is a story about how modern-day people struggle with their lives in displacement," Jia says.
Although the film is set in modern China, Jia says that he made it with the wuxia (martial arts) spirit in mind. The title of the film is also a tribute to A Touch of Zen, a 1971 wuxia film by the late director King Hu, which was the first Chinese-language action film ever to win a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Jia is no stranger to foreign audiences. He gained international recognition in 2006 when he won the Golden Lion, the highest prize at the Venice Film Festival with his film Still Life.
Actors Jiang Wu, Wang Baoqiang and Zhao Tao, who star in Jia's film, are also expected to compete for the best actor and actress awards at Cannes.
Appearing alongside Jia in Cannes is Hong Kong film maker Johnnie To, who will show his thriller Blind Detective as an out-of-competition film in the midnight screening section.
Hong Kong director Flora Lau's film Bends, starring Lau Ka-ling and Chen Kun, has been selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival.
The star-studded judging panel of this year's Cannes Film Festival also has a Chinese connection, with Taiwan's Ang Lee, who won the Best Director Oscar in February for his film Life of Pi, on the panel chaired by US director Steven Spielberg. Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi has also been appointed as a member of judging panel in the Un Certain Regard section.
Industry experts say the strong Chinese presence in this year's Cannes Film Festival highlights a return of Chinese-language productions to European screens.
France is the largest overseas market for Chinese films in terms of the number of films screened in the country every year. The third Chinese Film Festival in France is being held in Paris, which coincided with the film festival in Cannes.
Eleven Chinese films, including box office hits So Young, Lost in Thailand and 1942, will be shown in seven French cities from May 13 to June 19.
"Film festivals are good platforms to nurture the French curiosity and interest in Chinese film and culture," says Vincent Perez, French actor and special ambassador for the Chinese Film Festival to France.
The Cannes Film Festival will conclude on May 26 and the winner of the Golden Palm will be announced on the same day.