Celebrating New Year in the cinemas

Chan, 71, will return to the festival market in Unexpected Family, an emotional drama in which he plays a man with Alzheimer's disease, eschewing his trademark stunts. The film opens on Jan 1.

Another highly anticipated release is Back to the Past, a continuation of the popular TV series A Step into the Past (2001), which fictionalizes a 21st-century agent who inadvertently travels to the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and aids a captive prince's rise to power. The movie opens on Dec 31.

Also premiering on New Year's Eve is director Shen Ao's Escape from the Outland, about Chinese hostages escaping terrorists in a war-torn North African country. Other highlighted films include the fantasy romance Measure in Love and the crime thriller The Fire Raven.

Diehard fans of animation also have reason to celebrate with the re-screening of Spanish director Pablo Berger's award-winning Robot Dreams, a poignant and surreal story of friendship and isolation between a dog and a robot. Berger attended the promotional event, expressing his love for China, saying, "I just want to say — beautiful country, beautiful audience, and amazing cinema."