SLUMDOG Director Heads Shanghai Film Festival Jury

Shanghai Grand Theatre
Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle has been appointed to head the jury at this year's 12th Shanghai Film Festival (13 - 21 June 2009). The announcement of Boyle's selection coincided with the debut of this year's best-picture Oscar® winner SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE on Mainland China.

Danny Boyle
In an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency, Boyle suggested that watching festival selections made abroad would allow him to approach them as a festival judge with an open mind. He also indicated that he would like to film a feature in China. "When you have a city that is full of people and stories like Mumbai, Beijing or Shanghai, it's just so much excitement and potential for a filmmaker," he said.

Last year, the sudden death on 18 March of Oscar-winning British writer /director Anthony Minghella, age 54 and tapped to head the festival jury, made it necessary to seek a new jury president. Wong Kar Wai, a well-known Chinese director (born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong) was appointed to replace Minghella whose best-known films included COLD MOUNTAIN, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY.

AS TEARS GO BY was Wong's debut feature in 1998, and he was invited for critic's week at Cannes that year. In 2006, he served as President of the Cannes' Jury. His first feature in English, MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS, debuted at Cannes in 2007 and has won numerous awards.

Submission of film entries for this summer's festival is now open. More than 600 feature films and 200 short films have already been submitted to date.

To see more about last year's Shanghai Festival, click here. To access the Festival's official 2009 Web site, click the title of this post.