FILM fever grips Shanghai starting last Saturday, with "The White Countess" opening the 9th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF).

The film directed by U.S. director James Ivory tells the love story of a blind American diplomat who develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee in 1930s Shanghai. The screening follows the opening ceremony at Shanghai Concert Hall. For the next eight days, more than 300 films from some 40 countries and regions will be shown at 19 Shanghai cinemas.

Stars expected at the opening include Andie MacDowell, Edward Norton, Catherine Deneuve, Sigourney Weaver, "The Banquet" cast members and Chinese directors and actresses Zhang Guoli, Xu Jinglei, Chen Hao and Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada.

The festival closes June 25 with Pedro Almodovar's "Volver."

French director Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element," "The Professional") heads the festival jury, the first time a foreign director has been given the honor.

One of the highlights of the festival, 17 films from 13 countries were selected to compete for the Jin Jue Award. Other events include the Asian New Talent Award, the Jin Jue International Film Forum, and, getting down to business, a forum on the International Film and TV Market.

According to a SIFF organizer, this is the first year that the festival has accepted online submissions, contributing to the record number of 746 films received. This was an increase of 48.3 percent from last year.

 World premieres

Four of the 17 films competing for the Jin Jue Award will hold their world premieres at the festival. The last-minute-arrival "Four Minutes," by German director and screenwriter Chris Kraus, only reached Shanghai on Wednesday. This is Krau's second feature film. His feature debut, "Shattered Glass," won 10 national and international awards.

The Canadian film "Lucid," the Argentinean film "Cities and Love," and the Italian film "The Land" will also premiere in Shanghai, something new for the festival.

Two other global premieres and two Asian premieres for films not in the Jin Jue competition will also take place during the festival.

 Young and talented directors

Canadian director Sean Garrity and former journalist Chris Kraus are two of the leading young directors at the festival.

Director and screenwriter Garrity's "Without Her" tells the story of a young violinist discovering the truth behind her mother's disappearance two years earlier. In "Four Minutes," an 80-year-old piano teacher transforms her pupil into the musical wunderkind she once was after discovering the secret that she once killed someone. The German writer-director has numerous screenplays to his credit, including gay activist male filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim's gay biopic "The Einstein of Sex."

 Chinese films

Two Chinese films, "The Music Box," by the late artist and director Chen Yifei and "The Forest Ranger" by young director Qi Jian will compete for the Jin Jue Award.

"The Music Box" tells a love story of a simple barber living in turbulent times. "Forest Ranger" is a realistic film about contemporary rural life.

Four other Chinese films, "Drinking Tea," "Judgment in Tokyo," "Glorious Anger" and "Silent Mani" will compete for the Asian New Talent Prize.

 Jury panel

This year's jury panel has nine members, up from last year's seven, with renowned French filmmaker Luc Besson heading the panel and director Feng the vice president. 　　

Other judges include British producer Duncan Kenworthy, Italian filmmaker Gabriele Salvatores, Spanish director Manuel Aragon, Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan and Beijing actress/director Xu Jinglei. 　

"This year's jury panel are more famous and they are at a higher level in the art of film," says Tang Lijun, an official with the festival's organizing committee. "Many of their works have won the highest awards on the international scene. Movie buffs will also have the chance to view up to 200 movies in 19 local cinemas during the festival.

 Diversity　

"Diversity has always been the principle of the festival," adds Tang. "The audience will have more choice this year, from Hollywood commercial blockbusters to art-house movies and animations." 　　

In addition to the showing of the latest award-winning productions, such as this year's Oscar winners - "Walk the Line" and "Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - the panorama section will also feature a retrospective of the works of directors Besson and Feng, a theme exhibition on Chinese movies, and special shows of British, Italian, Russian, New Zealand and Mexican films. 　　

These pictures, covering such wide genres as action, comedy romance and suspense thriller, display different periods of the various countries involved and are vivid portrayals of their peoples, from the lives of the rich to those of the poor.

According to the British Council, about 20 of the latest hits, shorts and classic features, including "Pride and Prejudice," "The Libertine" and "Match Point," will be shown during the festival. Anthony Minghella, a well-known British director with such hits as "Cold Mountain" and "The English Patient" under his belt will come to Shanghai with his representative works like "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and "The Talented Mr Ripley."

 Cheaper tickets

Another important change for this annual event is that the tickets are cheaper - ranging from 20 yuan (US$2.5) to 60 yuan, compared with last year's 50 yuan. The lower price is meant to bring more audience to theaters.