Vietnam-French director to judge international film festival
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Vietnamese-French filmmaker Tran Anh Hung will sit the panel at the 2011 Sanghai International Film Festival which opens in China’s southern Shanghai city later this month.
Now in its 14th year, the festival has grown from an annual local event founded in 1993 to an A-category international film festival recognized by the prestigious International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
A total of 1,519 film entries from 102 countries have been sent to win Golden Goblets, which breaks last year’s record.
Fifty films from 27 countries have made their way to the final round, where winners of 9 awards will be named, including best director, best creative, drama, comedy, action, animation films, and best documentary.
10 films have also been chosen to compete for the peoples’ choice award.
To attract more attendance, organizers will screen recent award-winning and nominated movies, from the Coen brothers’ 2011 ‘True Grit’, Danny Boyle’s adventure and drama ‘127 hours’ to 2011 Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film ‘In a better world’ by Danish director Susanne Bier.
Besides Tran Anh Hung, the jury panel this year consists of American director Barry Levinson, the jury president, British screenwriter Christopher Hampton, Japanese director Yoichi Sai, Spanish actress Paz Vega, Chinese director Wang Quanan, and Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu.
Tran Anh Hung rose to fame after ‘The Scent of Green Papaya’ (1993), his Oscar-nominated debut (for Best foreign film) won two top prizes at Cannes Film Festival.
His second work, ‘Cyclo’ (1995) featuring top Hong Kong movie star Tony Leung Chiu Wai, also claimed the top-notch Golden Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival.
His two most recent works include the noir psychological thriller I Come with the Rain (2009) starring a star-studded international cast like Josh Hartnett and Elias Koteas and an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood released last year.
Shanghai International Film Festival will last 8 days from June 11-19.
