15th Annual Shanghai International Film Festival to be Held June 16-24

The 15th Shanghai International Film Festival, in which 1643 films from 106 countries and districts will compete for the “Golden Goblet" Awards, will be held June 16-24. The president of this year's jury will be world-renowned French director Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear, Seven Years in Tibet, Enemies at the Gates). There will be a high number of films having their world or Asia premieres this year, with over 28 cinemas in Shanghai set to participate.

Jean Jacques Annaud
as Chairperson of the Golden Goblet Award

Jean Jacques Annaud, influential Director, Playwright, Producer, and winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, has been named the Chairperson of the jury that will hand out the Golden Goblet Award at the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival scheduled to run from June 16 to 24.

As the only Category A International Film Festival in China, SIFF has enjoyed rapid development in recent years, and has attracted a batch of prominent film makers to be international judges including Luc Besson, Danny Boyle, Barry Levinson, Karwai Wong (Wang Jiawei), John Woo (Wu Yusen), and Kaige Chen (Chen Kaige). With these highly reputable and influential film makers acting as the chairperson of the panel of judges, SIFF has has gained recognition both at home and abroad in the film industry. 

Jean Jacques Annaud is one of the most respected directors in the international film industry with his works winner the César Awards. In 1976, his first film, La Victoire en chantant, won him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Among all his works, L'amant, a film set in Vietnam, is the most popular among the Chinese. In it, he surprised the international film circle by casting a Hong Kong actor Tony Leung (Liang Jiahui) and a 15-year-old Jane March in the major roles. Some other important works by Jean Jacques Annaud include César Awards for the Best Feature Film and Best Director for La guerre du feu, Name der Rose staring Sean Connery, and Enemy at the Gates featuring Jude Law.

At the invitation of the SIFF to be the chairperson, he agreed in delight, saying “I feel deeply honored to be the chairperson of the 15th SIFF, and I am aware of the responsibilities. China has been a wonderland for me since my childhood and I got to collecting books, post cards as well as folk music, drama records and classical films about China when I was young. In the coming years, I will stay in China for long, filming a film adapted from the bestseller Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong. I’ll maximize this opportunity to better my knowledge of the rich Chinese traditions and diversified cultures. I’m looking forward to the 15th SIFF in June.”

Together with another six international judges, Jean Jacques Annaud will appear on the Red Carpet of the 15th SIFF on June 16. In addition, his classics will be screened in the “Salute to Masters” Unit.