Director of The Lion King to lead the jury of Tiantan Awards

American filmmaker Rob Minkoff, who directed Disney's 1994 critically acclaimed animated film The Lion King, will lead this year's Tiantan Awards jury.

Jury members and the 15 shortlisted films were unveiled at a press conference held to announce details of this year's Beijing International Film Festival.

Xing Bo is the deputy secretary-general of the festival's organizing committee.

Xing introduced, "The six judges are Chilean director Silvio Gayoqi, Chinese director Cao Baoping, Russian director Sergei De Wattsvoy, Hong Kong actress Carina Lau, Iranian director Majid Makidi and British director Simon West."

The jury will select ten best works for the Tiantan Awards from 15 outstanding films submitted from 20 countries and regions.

Xing Bo said: "The Tiantan awards enjoy a growing reputation for its level of professionalism, standard guidelines and international vision. The judges are all filmmakers from both within and outside China, and this fact demonstrates the openness and a self-confident attitude that country's film industry tries to convey."

Of the 15 films shortlisted, 12 are from overseas and three are Chinese. They include Guo Fan's The Wandering Earth and Chen Jianbin's The Eleventh Chapter.

This year's Beijing International Film Festival will open on April 13.