Beijing film festival unveils jury

Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) has announced the seven-strong jury for this year’s Tiantan competition, which includes Russian filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk and Brazil’s Fernando Meirelles, in addition to previously announced jury president Luc Besson.

The jury also includes Hong Kong director-producer Peter Ho-sun Chan, Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk, US scriptwriter Robert Mark Kamen (The Karate Kid, Transporter franchise) and Chinese actress Zhou Xun.

Darren Aronofsky and French director Jean-Jacques Annaud will also be guests at the festival, which recently recruited Marco Mueller as chief advisor to oversee programming and improve other aspects of the event’s international profile.

BJIFF also unveiled the other main events of this year’s edition (April 16-23) – including opening and closing ceremonies at the Huairou Yanqi Lake convention centre; the Beijing Film Panorama, featuring around 360 titles; red carpet screenings of international premieres; ‘Film Carnival’ live performances and events in Huairou and other venues; and three film forums, including one on Sino-foreign co-production.

Meanwhile, Beijing Film Market (BFM) will take place April 17-20 at the China Millennium Monument. Among other events, the BFM will hold a Sino-Australia Co-production Forum in conjunction with Ausfilm.

The BFM is also cooperating with Cannes film festival on a “Foundation Award” for up-and-coming Chinese filmmakers through which projects will be selected to participate in the Cannes Marché. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is holding a “Hollywood Master Class” and introducing an MPA Award at the festival.

This year’s BJIFF is also expanding its online presence by releasing details of the Panorama programme through platforms such as Weibo and WeChat.