Yesterday, Shanghai's 14th International Film Festival came to an end and the winners of the Golden Goblet awards were announced at last. more ›

• The 14th annual Shanghai International Film Festival (affectionately dubbed SIFFilis around the Shanghaiist 'office' this week) kicked off last night with Francis Lawrence's Hollywood romantic drama Water for Elephants. Red carpet stars this year included Susan Sarandon, Matt Dillon, and Rupert Murdoch.
• Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap draws some interesting comparisons for Bloomberg between the two largest crowds he saw gathered this week around Shanghai: Nervous gaokao parents and Kungfu Panda fans.
• What do you get for hating the rich and keying nine of their cars in Shanghai? One year in prison.

The Shanghai International Film Festival returns in its 14th incarnation this weekend! From June 11th-19th, over two hundred films (including "seven film noir classics") will be shown in 24 theaters across the city. more ›

"MEDIA tycoon Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi Deng will attend the opening ceremony and a forum of the coming 14th Shanghai International Film Festival, officials said today. Murdoch is expected to share his ideas and experiences in film investment with Chinese filmmakers at the forum on financing the growth of the film industry. China is the world's third largest film market in terms of box office revenue after Japan and the United States. Last year China's cinema earnings grew 63.9 percent to a total of 10.1 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion). The film festival will run from June 11 to 19. Its "Star Hunter" program has also been launched. Mainland citizens who have a talent for film acting can register at http://ent.qq.com/zt2011/Star_hunter/index.htm before May 27. Finalists will be selected by online voters and a professional jury and have a chance to attend world-famous film festivals and sign a contract with a well-known artist agency." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

The Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off its 13th iteration this Saturday with John Woo acting as jury president (taking over from Danny Boyle last year - guess we won't be hearing much about the issue of censorship this time around, eh?) Stars in attendance included the usual bunch of Zhao Wei (Vicki Zhao), Gong Li, Jet Li and Bingbings Fan and Li. International star power seemed to be a bit lackluster this time around, but included Luc Besson, Adrien Brody, and John Cusack. more ›

Another Friday, another Weekendist. Here's a roundup of Shanghaiist's picks for events this weekend. For live music, check out our Midweek Music Preview. Happy weekend! more ›

• Curious about who else came out winners in the Shanghai International Film Festival? They have the results up on their website now. [SIFF]
• The dudes who brought us the screening of Building 173 are now asking for Shanghainese people to participate in a “soundwalk project.” [biv0uac]
• The city has banned "free tour packages" in order to protect tourists from forced shopping trips and substandard service. But what if you WANT forced shopping trips and substandard service? [Eastday]

Danish-Swedish drama, "Original," which Slumdog director Danny Boyle called a "light, touching and subversive study of mental illness that is both compassionate and never sentimental." The movie follows the trials of Henry, a man who has acted as a pale reflection of other people's expectations his whole life, when he decides to make an effort at becoming a true original. Sverrir Gudnason, who plays the male lead in the movie, also won the SIFF's best actor award. The jury called his performance "brilliant, sensitive and humorous..." and "absolutely mesmerizing." Source: Variety more ›

The Shanghai International Film Festival dropped by over the weekend and with it came the standard swarm of celebrities. Most of the sitings were more or less expected - Chinese actresses Fan BingBing and Zhang Ziyi (pictured) were there, as well as freedom hater Jackie Chan and director John Woo (no doubt promoting the uber-sucessful Red Cliff) - but big names from the Hollywood elite also made guest appearances. Halle Berry walked the carpet in a Marchesa lilac gown, and Clive Owen spoke during some sort of press conference. Danwei caught some of the opening ceremonies on Youku and called them "cheesy," but - honestly - what opening ceremony in China isn't? If you want celebrity galleries, check out the one on People's Daily Online. more ›

As previously mentioned, Shanghai's 11th annual International Film Festival kicked off this weekend (albeit not too smoothly) with an eclectic mix of movies showing all day and night at its 23 theaters. In a place like China that receives so small a selection of international features, this is an incredible opportunity to see works you otherwise wouldn't have a chance to catch in a theater. We only made it to two screenings, but both were well attended and received by diverse international audiences. Below are brief descriptions of what we saw and we encourage readers to add any films that they would recommend seeing in the remaining week of screenings. more ›

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By Sue Anne Tay more ›