Stars Like Aaron Eckhart, Jackie Chan, Masaharu Fukuyama Attended Grand Opening#
It can't quite compete with Cannes, but over the course of the last decade and a half the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has attracted steadily growing interest from major film markets around the world, most notably Hollywood -- which has spent the last year becoming ever more cozy with China's burgeoning film industry. Opening this week, the 15th annual SIFF launched this weekend with a grand opening event attended by over 400 international and local filmmakers, actors, and celebrities, including Aaron Eckhart, South Korean actor Jang Dong-gun and Japan's Masaharu Fukuyama, along with Chinese stars Jackie Chan, Tony Leung, Zhao Wei and Chen Kun. The festival kicked off with the premiere of "Painted Skin 2," and in all, over 300 domestic and international films will be shown over the festival's eight-day run.
At this year's festival, 17 films from 16 countries have been shortlisted for the Golden Goblet Award, with the jury chaired by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud and consisting of Iranian director Rakhshan Banietemad, Chinese-American producer Terence Chang, Hungarian director Gyorgy Palfi, American actress Heather Graham, Chinese actress Li Bingbing and director Zhang Yang. Films included in the running will be shown at 28 cinemas across Shanghai through June 24.