The seven-member jury of the 7th Beijing International Festival’s main competition section has been identified. The group is made up of international movie experts, namely French actor Jean Reno, American director Ron Minkoff, Danish filmmaker Bille August, Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, Chinese actress Jiang Wenli, Italian producer Paolo del Brocco and Romanian director Radu Jude.
The jury line-up and the 15 movies selected to compete in the film festival, which runs from Aug. 16 through 23, were revealed at a press event on Friday, April 7. Bille August, who has an Oscar award and two Palme d’Or awards, is the chairman of the jury, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Tiantan Award Competitors
Variety reported that among the 15 movies competing for the Tiantan Award are “Operation Mekong” and another wartime drama, “Mr. No Problem.” Three films, “The Sis,” “The House of Others” and “Dim the Fluorescents” have awards in other film festivals and are also part of the BIFF.
The other movies that are competing for the Tiantan Award are “A Kid,” “Alma de Sant Pere,” “Coffee,” “Kanon,” “Luka,” “Night of a 1000 Hours,” “Two Lottery Tickets,” “The Death and Life of Otto Bloom,” “The Poisoning Angel” and “Tiger Theory.” The BIFF has a documentaries section which would exhibit “The Ivory Game,” “Les Saisons” by Jacques Perrin and “Casting JonBenet.”
No Movie from the U.S.
The 15 movies come from France, Finland, Italy, China, Belgium, Canada, Georgia, Russia, Spain, Croatia, Japan, Luxembourg, Austria, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia, Iran, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Romania. Some of the festival entries are co-productions between or among countries. There is no American film.
However, all the seven previous installments of “The Fast and the Furious” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” would be exhibited. The showing of the franchise films would help boost box office chances in China of “The Fate of the Furious” when it opens on April 14 and “Dead Men Don’t Tell Tales” in May.