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Nearly 100 films to premiere at third Hainan Film Festival

This year's film festival will be held not only in the resort city of Sanya, but province-wide

© Hainan International Film Festival's official website

SANYA, December 2. /TASS/. The premiere screening of 97 films will take place at the third Hainan International Film Festival, which will be held on December 5-12 in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, announced the organizing committee of the event.

A total of 189 films from 60 countries will be screened on the island during the week, according to statement. The Chinese viewers will see 97 of those for the first time. Among them are world premieres, as well as movies that will be shown for the first time in Asia.

As previously announced by the organizers, this year's film festival will be held not only in the resort city of Sanya, but province-wide. Film screenings, in particular, will be organized in the provincial capital - Haikou in the north of the island, as well as in Qionghai (eastern part of Hainan) and Danzhou city (western part).

Amid the difficult epidemiological situation, it is also planned to launch online viewing of films. According to the organizers, this will not only increase the number of viewers, but also expand the geographical coverage. It is noted that 15 foreign films will take part in the Internet screening, which "are already popular outside China, but have not yet managed to conquer the Chinese audience." Among them are "The Walking Invader" by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, "It must be heaven" by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, "Sorry, we missed you" by British director Ken Loach and other films.

This year, the organizers received more than 4,300 films - twice more than last year - which will compete for the prizes of the film festival in various nominations. A separate award this time was established for new talents just starting in the world of cinema. It was named "Hello Future. New Talent Award." Of the 125 films submitted for this nomination, 12 were selected.

The Hainan International Film Festival is recognized as one of the top four mainstream film screenings in China. It was first held in December 2018 in the resort town of Sanya and has been held there regularly since then. Such world-famous actors and directors as Jackie Chan, Aamir Khan, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Nuri Bilge Ceylan took part in it.

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