Shanghai announces competition line-up

This year will see 16 films from 16 territories compete for the Jinjue Awards, with nine films from seven Asian countries lining up for the Asian New Talent Awards.

The 23th edition of the festival, which runs from June 13 to 21, will also include the film market and two project market sections, running from June 14 to 17. China Film Pitch and Catch (CFPC) selects eight Chinese projects in a forum and offers filmmakers to meet with potential financers. CFPC will select 32 co-production projects for financial opportunities.

As announced in March, Danny Boyle will lead the jury of Jinjue Competition, which will give out eight awards to directors, actors and film professionals. The line-up includes two renowned French filmmakers André Téchiné’s The Girl on the Train and Emmanuel Finkiel’s Nowhere Promised Land; Italian filmmaker Giulio Manfredonia’s We Can Do That and Dodo Fiori’s Schemes Of Affection from Italy and German Christoph Röhl’s APiece Of Me.

A number of Eastern and Northern European films have also made it through the selection, made from 1200 original entries. These include Danish director Nils Malmros’ Aching Hearts, Norwegian Pål Jackman’s The Storm In My Heart, Polish director Maciej Pieprzyca’s Splinters and Hungarian Krisztina Goda Chameleon.

Chinese contenders for the Jinjue Awards are Yao Shuhua’s Empire Of Silver, a co-production between China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Tibetan filmmaker Wanma Caidan’s Soul Searching.

Asian New Talent Awards, SIFF’s second competition category, will enter its fifth edition.  It is a competition platform for debut or second-time Asian filmmakers.