Oscar winner joins jury for film festival

Oscar-winning Czech director Jiri Menzel will be on the jury for the main competition of the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival, organizers announced yesterday.

A key exponent of the Czech New Wave in the 1960s, 75-year-old Menzel is renowned for blending satire and light-hearted comedy to reveal personal struggle and critique political tumults.

Also a film and stage actor, Menzel boasts a diverse body of work that includes the 1966 feature "Closely Watched Train," which won the best foreign language Oscar, and Golden Bear-winning "Larks on a String" (1969).

Thirteen films will compete for the Golden Goblet Award including Canadian director Lenin Sivam's "A Gun & A Ring," Russian filmmaker Yury Bykov's "The Major" and South Korean director Kang Woo-suk's "Fists of Legend." Three Chinese productions - "Amazing" by Sherwood Hu, "Unbeatable" by Dante Lam and "The Stolen Years" by Barbara Wong - will also compete for the festival's top prize.

Officials said the finalists have been whittled down from 1,655 movies from 112 countries and regions.

The festival takes place from June 15-23.

British director Tom Hooper will chair the jury panel.