Beijing afloat on April sea of films

In a feast for cinema enthusiasts, the 15th Beijing International Film Festival will kick off on April 18 and run until April 26, with a roster of nearly 300 movies from around the world, organizers revealed.

Jiang Wen, the filmmaker known for blockbusters Let the Bullets Fly and Hidden Man, is jury president for the Tiantan Award, the festival's top honor.

Well-known jurors from Chinese-language cinema include Joan Chen, the Chinese American actress who shot to fame in Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning feature The Last Emperor, Hong Kong art director Tim Yip, known for his costume design for Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and actress Ni Ni, whose recent hit was the suspense film Lost in the Stars.

Foreign jurors include British director David Yates, Finnish director Teemu Nikki, and Swiss director-actor Vincent Perez.