The organisers of China's Golden Rooster Awards have announced that Zhang Ziyi, Liu Ye, Ge You and Huang Bo will star in a short film to be screened at the awards ceremony in Suzhou on Oct 27.

Dayyan Eng (Waiting Alone) will direct the three-minute action satire about a group of actors seeking an unknown treasure that is lost by the Golden Rooster Lake in Suzhou.

According to state-owned TV network CCTV Movie Channel, which is broadcasting the ceremony, the film will be similar to the shorts used at the Oscars ceremony and will present the highlights of Chinese cinema over the past year.

The awards, which are regarded as China 's leading film honours, is attempting to change its image away from a platform for propaganda movies to a more international and entertaining event.

In addition to the opening film, stars including Zhang, Jackie Chan and Jet Li will auction movie costumes and props for charity during the red carpet section of the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the 16th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival will be held from Oct 24-28 in Suzhou.

The 26th Golden Rooster Awards will hand out awards in 18 categories. Yin Li's The Knot leads the race with eight nominations while Chen Daming's One Foot Off The Ground and Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet each have four nods.

However, films that have recently won awards at international festivals such as Jia Zhangke's Still Life and Wang Quanan's Tuya's Marriage have not been nominated.

Golden Rooster nominations main categories:

Best Feature Film:

The Knot

Forest Rangers

My Long March

One Foot Off The Ground

Messenger Of Xiang Ba La

Best Director:

Yin Li (The Knot)

Jacob Cheung (Battle Of Wits)

Yu Zhong (Messenger Of Xiang Ba La)

Gao Qunshu (Tokyo Trial)

Qi Jian (Forest Rangers)

Zhai Junjie, Wang Jia, Yang Jun (My Long March)

Best Actor:

Damian Lau (Tokyo Trial)

Liu Peiqi (5 Bullets)

Li Yixiang (One Foot Off The Ground)

Qiu Lin (Messenger Of Xiang Ba La)

Fu Dalong (Forest Rangers)

Chen Kun (The Knot)

Best Actress:

Rene Liu (The Chain Game)

Carina Lau (Curiosity Kills The Cat)

Yan Bingyan (Teeth Of Love)

Zhu Yuanyuan (Forest Rangers)

Li Bingbing (The Knot)

Best Script:

Chen Daming (One Foot Off The Ground)

Tang Hao, Zhang Sitao, Zhang Chi, Hu Kun (Tokyo Trial)

Zou Jingzhi (Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles)

Zheng Hongzhi (Forest Rangers)

Yu Zhong (Messenger Of Xiang Ba La)

Best Cinematography:

Wang Xiaolie (The Knot)

Zhang Li (The Banquet)

Zhao Xiaoding (Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles)

Zeng Nianping (The Door)

Mu Deyuan, Jiang Lijun, Wang Yang (My Long March)

Best Art Direction:

Tim Yip (The Banquet)

Ma Yaoqian, Xu Feng (My Long March)

Lu Yuelin (The Knot)

Yi Zhenzhou (Battle Of Wits)

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