SANYA, December 1. /TASS/. The second International Hainan Film Festival kicked off in China's resort city of Sanya on Sunday. There are 13 films that will be competing for the main prise in Best Feature Film nomination. 

Famous Chinese and foreign actors, representatives of the film industry, as well as singers, musicians, people of art attended the opening ceremony. On the red carpet, the audience was greeted by American actor Ethan Hawke, British director and screenwriter Simon West, Chinese actress Jiang Wenli, French actress Isabelle Huppert, who led the jury board this year, British singer Sarah Brightman and others.

Running for the Golden Coconut 

The Golden Coconut, the festival's main award, will be given for the first time for the best feature, short and documentary films.

According to the organizers, the award - a gilded figurine in the shape of a palm tree growing on the sand - had not been chosen randomly - it is a symbol of lust for life. At the top of the palm tree one can see nuts - the fruits of many years of work and the creative path of filmmakers. 

This year, the organizers received 1,495 films from 80 countries of the world. On the eve of the opening ceremony of the film festival, a list of 13 nominees for the award in the category "Best Feature Film" was released. Among them are the Chinese film "The First Parting" directed by Wang Lin, the film "Son" by Mehdi Barsaui, the German film "Balloon" by Michael Herbig, the French film "Deer Skin" (Quentin Dupieux), "And the Fire Will Come" by Oliver Lache, Chinese film "The legend of the white snake" by director Zhang Xianfeng, the movie "Mom is not at home" (Liu Junfeng)," "Marge and her mother" by Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film "Whistlers" by Corneliu Porumboy, the Sino-French film "To love and to sing" (Ma Nan), "Verdict" from director Raimund Ribey Gutierrez, "1982" by Valid Muanessa, as well as "In the Shadow" by Japanese filmmaker Otomo Keishi. 

The award for the best movie will reach 250,000 yuan (about $35.600). Winners in short films and documentaries nominations will receive a separate prize. 

The best of the best

According to the results of the film festival, the jury team will also name the leaders in the categories of "Best Director" (award 150 thousand yuan or $ 21.38 thousand), "Special Prize of the jury" (100 thousand yuan or $ 14.25 thousand), "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" (80 thousand yuan or $ 11.4 thousand), "Best Screenwriter" (50 thousand yuan or $ 7.12 thousand), "Best Picture for Children" (50 thousand yuan), and "The best contribution to the cinema" (a prize of 50 thousand yuan, appreciates the work of costumers, makeup artists, sound engineers and other specialists involved in creating the picture).

Strict judges

The jury of the second Hainan Island International Film Festival included seven people, world-class directors, actors, screenwriters and film critics among them. The team will be led by French actress Isabelle Huppert - multiple laureate of international film festivals, winner of the Golden Globe, as well as the chairman of the jury of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.

In addition to Huppert, the jury includes American film director, screenwriter Abel Ferrara, Chinese actress Jiang Wenli, Macedonian film director, screenwriter Milcho Manchevsky, Chinese actor Chen Sicheng, Indian director Aruna Vasudev, as well as French journalist and film critic Thomas Sotinel.

The program

A number of events will take place during the festival: 36 films of Chinese and foreign production, meetings with actors, communication with cinematographers, evening film screenings on the beach, a demonstration of cinema classics, in particular films with Charlie Chaplin, as well as master classes from famous representatives of the film industry, including Iranian film director, Oscar winner Asgar Farhadi, Japanese film director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hong Kong film director Stanley Kwan, British film director and screenwriter Sa Mon West, American actor Ethan Hawke, Danish filmmaker Bille August.

Russian films do not participate in an open screening for the public, but one of the films -“One man dies a million times” by American director Jessica Orek tells the story of the Leningrad siege.

For the first time, the Hainan Island International Film Festival was held in December in 2018. It was attended by such world-famous actors and directors as Jackie Chan, Aamir Khan, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The film festival is held with the support of the Hainan administration with the approval of the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.