A change of scene

"We hope the film will comfort the soul of Xian," says Shen, who is also the founder and CEO of Beijing-based Shinework Pictures.

Shen says he hopes The Composer, which was jointly financed by Kazakhstan, will become a commercial success and encourage more foreign studios to produce films with China. The film is scheduled to go on general release in China and Kazakhstan in May.

As well as The Composer, two other domestic films have been nominated for a Tiantan Award-actor-director Chen Jianbin's new comedy drama The Eleventh Chapter, and the sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth.

After drawing in box-office receipts totaling a whopping 4.6 billion yuan ($685 million)-or 24 percent of Chinese box-office takings during the first quarter-The Wandering Earth is now regarded as a game-changer for its role in reviving the fortunes of the Chinese sci-fi genre.

As the longest film among all the nominated movies, Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan's 188-minute The Wild Pear Tree will be screened for the first time in China. A Fortunate Man, the latest directorial epic by Danish auteur Bille August, is also a highly anticipated entry.

The other nominated films are Another World (Japan), Ben is Back (United States), Happier Times, Grump (Finland), Here (Iran), Sunset (Hungary, France), Tehran: City of Love (Britain, Iran and the Netherlands), The Keeper (Germany, Britain), The Unorthodox (Israel), Fear (India), and The Waiter (Greece).

All 15 films were selected from 775 aspiring nominations from across 85 countries and regions worldwide, a noticeable rise from the pool of 659 films from the 71 nations and regions last year.

Helmed by US director Rob Minkoff as president, the jury panel consists of six other members: Chilean director Silvio Gayoqi, Chinese director Cao Baoping, Russian director Sergei De Wattsvoy, Hong Kong actress Carina Lau, Iranian director Majid Majidi and British director Simon West.

Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, the Bollywood movie Zero will be screened as the closing film of the festival.

While the race for the awards is attracting insiders, a special segment titled Film in Panorama will screen 261 new and classic films in 30 theaters over 15 days, providing a visual feast for film fans in the capital.

Zhang Xiaoguang, deputy head of the China Film Archive, says the segment has been especially created to showcase the best films produced by countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Several renowned filmmakers are also scheduled to hold audience discussions after screening their movies at the festival.

For instance, Iranian auteur Majidi will discuss his drama Beyond the Clouds with local audience members, and French actress Sophie Marceau will visit Beijing to attend the screening of her directorial drama Mrs Mills, which she also stars in.