Beijing Film Fest Unveils Competition Lineup, Jiang Wen to Lead Jury Including Joan Chen, David Yates

Chinese actor-director Jiang Wen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Let the Bullets Fly) will serve as the head of the main competition jury at the 15th Beijing International Film Festival, which will hand out its Tiantan Awards.

The jury will also include Chinese American director and actor Joan Chen (The Last Emperor), British director David Yates (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Chinese actor Ni Ni, Finnish director Teemu Nikki, Swiss director and actor Vincent Perez, and art director Tim Yip from Hong Kong. The panel will select the winners across 10 award categories, including best feature film, best director and best screenplay.

The festival also unveiled its 15 main competition films, with organizers saying they received a record 1,794 feature film submissions from 103 countries and regions, marking a 19 percent increase over last year.

The three Chinese films in the main competition lineup are Hao Ming and Li Peiran’s Better Me, Better You, Li Yongyi’s Deep in the Mountains, and Sagara’s Trapped.

Also set for the competition are Emine Yildirim’s Apollon by Day Athena by Night (Turkey), Sora Hokimoto’s BAUS: The Ship’s Voyage Continues (Japan), Maria Brendle’s Frieda’s Case (Switzerland), Tim Ellrich’s In My Parents’ House (Germany), Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s Loveable (Norway), Tobias Schmutzler, Kevin Schmutzler, Apuu Mourine, and Vallentine Chelluget’s Nawi: Dear Future Me (Kenya/Germany), Sophie Deraspe’s Shepherds (Canada/France), Andrea Segre’s The Great Ambition (Italy/Belgium/Bulgaria), Ivan Fund’s The Message (Argentina/Spain/Uruguay), Charlie McDowell’s The Summer Book (Finland/United Kingdom/United States), Noëlle Bastin and Baptiste Bogaert’s Vitrival – The Most Beautiful Village in the World (Belgium), and Hadi Mohaghegh’s Vortex (Iran/Czech Republic).

Meanwhile, Hungarian director, screenwriter, and producer Béla Tarr (Damnation, Satan’s Tango, The Man From London) will serve as the president of the international jury for the Forward Future Section of the Beijing fest. The Forward Future section, launched in 2014, is dedicated to discovering and promoting new filmmakers, focusing on directors’ first or second features.

Known for his long, uninterrupted single camera takes, auteur Tarr has had a following of cineasts at home and abroad. His seven-hour-plus Satan’s Tango and other works in black-and-white have long been seen as conscious counterpoints to Hollywood blockbusters and other movies.

After the release of his film The Turin Horse in 2011, Tarr announced his retirement from feature-length film directing work. In 2013, he started a film school in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“From being hailed as the ‘ultimate auteur’ to ‘the last modernist,’ Béla Tarr has carved out a unique place in world cinema with his minimalist aesthetics, profound philosophical depth, and signature long-take cinematography,” the Beijing fest said. “Over his rich and varied career, he has not only received numerous international awards and accolades, but also become a bridge connecting Hungarian and international cinematic arts. Hailed as the soul of the ‘Hungarian New Filmic Wave,’ Béla Tarr’s name has always been closely tied to classic moments in film history. From documentary-style realism to more modernist cinematic practices, his works are renowned for their stark black-and-white imagery, poetic narrative structures, and profound social critique.”

Last year, the Tokyo International Film Festival awarded Tarr its Lifetime Achievement Award. Concluded the Beijing fest: “Dubbed the ‘philosopher-poet of cinema’ and the ‘last true master of filmmaking,’ no amount of praise can fully encapsulate his profound influence on contemporary filmmakers and his relentless exploration of film aesthetics and social themes.”

Switzerland serves as this year’s country of honor at the Beijing festival, commemorating 75 years of diplomatic relations between the country and China, with a special Swiss Film Week.

The 15th edition of the Beijing festival takes place April 18-26.