Seventeen films will vie for the Golden Goblet Award at the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival next month, organizers said yesterday.

 

About 30 domestic and foreign film experts just finished selecting the films that will compete for the Golden Goblet top prize.

 

Two Chinese films were among the 17 chosen - The Music Box by late Shanghai-based artist Chen Yifei and Qi Jian's The Forest Ranger. 　　

 

The organizing committee said a total of 746 movies from 53 countries and regions have registered for Golden Goblet selection.

 

The White Countess, an epic love story directed by James Ivory and set in 1930s Shanghai, will open the festival on June 17 at the Shanghai Concert Hall. 　　

 

This year, 19 cinemas, including Shanghai Film Art Center and Paradise Warner Cinema City, will present Oscar-winners like Walk the Line and Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, as well as classics by acclaimed filmmakers like Luc Besson and Feng Xiaogang. 　　

 

Tickets will be priced from 20 yuan (US$2.50) to 60 yuan. 　　

 

The festival runs from June 17-25. More than 200 films, both domestic and international, will be screened at the festival.

 

 

(CRI May 23, 2006)