Jean Reno, Rob Minkoff join Beijing Festival stellar lineup

PanARMENIAN.Net - French actor Jean Reno and American director Rob Minkoff (“The Lion King”) will join Bille August on the jury for the main competition section of the Beijing International Film Festival, Variety reports.

The panel also includes Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, Chinese actress Jiang Wenli, Italian producer Paolo del Brocco and Romanian director Radu Jude.

The festival, now in its seventh edition, runs April 16-23, at locations across the Chinese capital.

Films in competition and competing for the Tiantan Award include “Caffe,” the first film to be made under the Chinese-Italian co-production treaty, last year’s Hong Kong-Chinese box office hit “Operation Mekong,” and Chinese wartime drama “Mr. No Problem.”

International selections include “The Sis,” “The House of Others” and “Dim the Fluorescents,” which have all been rewarded at other events on the festival circuit.

A documentary section includes “The Ivory Game,” Jacques Perrin’s “Les Saisons,” and the recent “Casting JonBenet.”

In a crowd-pleasing move, the festival will screen all seven previous installments in the “Fast & Furious” franchise and all of the past “Pirates of the Caribbean” titles. “Dead Men Don’t Tell Tales,” the new “Pirates” film, is expected to be released in China in May. And in a nod to film education, the festival will unspool seven films by indie icon David Lynch.