DANNY BOYLE, THE DIRECTOR OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the president of International Jury for Jin Jue Award in the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival which will run from 13 June – 21 June 2009. Other members of the jury are Huang Jianxin (Chinese director), Xavier Koller (Swiss director), Komaki Kurihara (Japanese actress), Andrew Wai Keung Lau (Hong Kong producer, director, cinematographer), Andie Macdowell (American actress) and Oh Jungwan (Korean producer).

12TH SIFF Official Poster

16 films was officially selected to compete for the JinJue Awards at this year’s festival. Let’s check them out.

Mikro Eglima | Small Crime

Country : Germany, Greek, Cyprus

Director : Christos Georgiou

Synopsis : On a beautiful rugged Greek island in the Aegean, Leonidas is a frustrated young policeman who has just been assigned here after graduating from the Police Academy, but who would much rather be in the city than stuck on a sleepy island. He finds hope for action in the discovery of Zacharias’s body. Each person on the island has his own version of how Zacharias died, and Leonidas gets to know them all through his unorthodox investigation, falls in love, becomes part of the island, and in the end solves the mystery of Zacharias’s death.

Si Può Fare | We Can Do That

Country : Italy

Director : Giulio Manfredonia

Synopsis : Nello, a Milanese businessman who has lost his job, finds himself managing a cooperative of former mental patients, relocated after the Italian state closed the country’s psychiatric hospitals under the Basaglia law. A strong believer in the dignity of work, Nello encourages all cooperative members to learn a trade in order to free themselves from dependence on charity handouts, inventing a role for each of them that is amazingly adapted to their abilities, though it will end up with the inevitable human and tragic-comic contradictions.

Jernanger | The Storm In My Heart

Country : Norway

Director : PÃ¥l Jackman

Synopsis : A tale about the mild Eivind who isn’t scared of anything – except love. Eivind lives on a boat in the south of Norway. The boat lies low and lopsided in the water. Thirty years ago Eivind left his homestead and his teenage sweetheart behind, and he has not been back since. He always meant to go back when everything was settled – only that never happened. Then young Kris appears. He wants to travel the world but didn’t get any further than the lifeboat of Jernanger. The two men find one another and together they hatch a great plan.

The Search

Country : China

Director : Pema Tseden

Synopsis : A film director is accompanied by his friend and a business owner, who serves as a guide, to find an actor and actress to play the roles of Prince Drimé Kunden and Princess Mande Zangmo. In a village known for its Tibetan opera performance, the director finds a girl, an ideal candidate for the role of princess. Her melodious voice touches everyone. However, she decides to take the role only on the condition that the director and his friend find her ex-boyfriend, who had previously acted as the prince along with her. The director consents to her wish. On the way to find her ex-boyfriend, the business owner narrates his touching love story as a young man. Throughout their search, the story 0