A bigger, starrier and more-crowded-than-ever Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) will take place from Jun 14 to 22.
This year, audiences will see a greater number of movies shown on more screens in more cinemas, says Wang Jiayan, director for the 17th SIFF.
"A film fan has to have a big heart and be prepared to be surprised, disappointed, happy and sad — all is possible during the festival," says Wang, who has been working on the screening schedules with SIFF since the 1990s. This year he's responsible for organizing the screening of 900 films.
Despite the greatest efforts to schedule more popular films in big cinemas such as Shanghai Film Center and the Grand Cinema, many enthusiastic film fans rushed to buy tickets on the first morning, as soon as they went on sale. They were after tickets for Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather starring Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver starring Robert De Niro and Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine starring Cate Blanchett.
The big carnival for film lovers in Shanghai started in 1993, and has kept growing ever since. This year, the festival will give emphasis to the introduction of emerging filmmakers from China and other Asian countries.
The festival announced for the first time its jury of program directors this year consisting of filmmakers, producers, researchers and critics. Next year, it will pick 50 ordinary people to make up a layman jury.
Chen Xiaoli, a journalist with Wenhui Daily, is a member of the jury panel, and has worked on the fi lm beat for more than 20 years. She says she is particularly happy to see some fi ne new work on ethnic stories.
"Technically they are immature, but these fi lms have broken away from the stereotypical depiction of ethnic subjects. I am amazed by these Tibetan, Mongolian, and Uyghur films."
A six-member jury consisting of film directors, playwrights and actors from six di1 erent countries — chaired by China's prima donna of films, Gong Li — will judge the grand Golden Goblet prize.
Besides celebrating the latest releases such as Grace of Monaco — a biopic about Grace Kelly starring Nicole Kidman — the festival presents some of the greatest achievements in film history. Thanks to the development of 4K digital restoration of films, audiences in Shanghai will see the works of past superstars such as Marlon Brando, Nastassja Kinski and Alain Delon.
Gems from China's film history are on display, too. Love and Duty and The Goddess, both silent films starring Ruan Lingyu, China's first actress to gain national fame, will be presented with live accompaniment by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra during the festival.
