Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai will chair this year’s jury, which also includes ‘The Fast and Furious’ director Rob Cohen and Berlin Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Călin Peter Netzer.
Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund, winner of the 2017 Cannes Palme d’Or for The Square, has joined the competition jury of the Beijing International Film Festival, kicking off in the Chinese capital April 15.
The government-backed event unveiled its full jury lineup at a press event in Beijing Friday. Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai was previously named chair of this year’s jury. Wong and Ostlund will be joined by Rob Cohen, director of The Fast and The Furious; Chinese actor Yihong Duan, winner of the Tokyo film festival’s best actor prize last year for The Looming Storm; Oscar-winning Polish composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland); and Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer, winner of the Berlin Silver Bear in 2013 for Child’s Pose.
The Beijing festival’s full competition lineup and list of VIP attendees are expected in the coming days. Typically, an official selection of 15 international films compete for the Tiantan Award, the festival’s top prize. This year’s jury chief, Wong, won the award with his last release, martial arts drama The Grandmaster (2014), which earned $45 million in China.
A popular draw for Hollywood power players looking to cultivate business in the burgeoning Chinese industry, past editions of the Beijing festival have drawn attendance and participation by James Cameron, Kathleen Kennedy, Jim Gianopulos, Luc Besson, Natalie Portman, Darren Aronofsky and others.
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