Oscar-winner "Birdman" will soon be seen by Chinese movie enthusiasts via the upcoming Beijing International Film Festival. (Photo : Reuters)
The Beijing International Film Festival committee recently announced that it will include this year’s biggest Oscar winner, “Birdman,” in its roster of films set to be screened across 23 Beijing cinemas and universities.
"Birdman" follows the strange tale of a superhero actor in Hollywood who tries his luck at capturing the limelight once again via Broadway.
Although it is more unlikely that the movie will be shown in mainland China, "Birdman" made it to the Beijing Film Fest along with other Academy Award winners, such as "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Imitation Game."
The final list will be revealed on March 20.
According to the committee, over 300 films will be included in the line-up. For this year, more than 1,500 movies from 103 countries were selected as candidates for the much-anticipated film festival, which is scheduled on April 16-23.
Typically, each movie is screened four times. However, some hit movies are expected to have under run, depending on the committee's negotiations with the movies' producers.
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the festival's film panorama department, Zhang Yi, estimated that Oscar-winning films have a slim chance of landing on theaters across the mainland.
Zhang pointed out that Chinese distributors have set a limit on how many foreign films are allowed in cinemas. Annually, mainland theaters only screen 34 foreign films.
Director Sun Xianghui of China Film Archive mentioned that the Oscar winners were eyed upon even before the American awards season.
"We pitched the popular blockbusters and most talked-about productions months before the American awards season and made the selection based on research of box-office performances and the responses of professional critics," Sun remarked.
The director also added that five more movies with high-quality artistic value will also be screened during the international film fest. Although the films have "very little chance to make it in the mainstream market," the committee decided to show them before Chinese movie enthusiasts.
These movies include the comedy-drama "Inside Llewyn Davis," novel-based romance thriller "Gone Girl," and the Russian production "Leviathan."
For first time this year since the festival's 2011 launch, a film critic-guided system will be used.
As 2015 marks a great year for film celebration--the 120th year anniversary since the world's first movie was shown and the 110th year for the first Chinese movie--the festival will also be featuring classic pieces from film masters born a century ago.
The works include movies from U.S. actor-director Orson Welles and Swedish artist Ingrid Bergman.
