Zhang Ziyi in "Forever Enthralled." [Global Times]

The competition for Best Leading Actress is even more fierce, with four of China's best actresses nominated: Zhang Ziyi for her role in "Forever Enthralled," Zhou Xun for "The Equation of Love and Death," Zhao Wei for "Painted Skin" and Jiang Wenli for" And the Spring Comes."

Aside from the glamorous opening, awards and closing ceremonies, this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival also includes various themed events and film promotions. The international film exhibition will present the latest films from the US, Japan, South Korea and Poland including "Cassandra's Dream" and "The Stranger."

The Hong Kong and Taiwan film exhibition will focus on Taiwanese nostalgic films by renowned directors such as "Hsing Lee" ("The Wheel of Life") and "Hsiao-hsien Hou" ("Three Times"), as well as classic works by kung fu star Jackie Chan including "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Project A."

Two themed sections will also make their premiere at this year's festival. A group of New Year celebration films (films to be released around the New Year) including Zhang Yimou's "Amazing Tales: Three Guns" and Peter Chan's "Waiting," will hold promotional events and press conferences as part of the event. This section is by far the most anticipated by much of the Chinese media. " Another new section will take mainstream films to educational campuses in Nanchang. Works including "Nanchang Uprising" and "The Founding of a Republic" will be shown during the screenings, with filmmakers meeting with college students afterwards.

The awards and closing ceremonies will be held on Saturday night, with a production team drawn from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games and CCTV's Spring Festival gala. "We will try to deliver a film festival ceremony with Nanchang characteristics," explained chief director Cheng Qingsong.

Chinese film awards

The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival is a traditional festival for Chinese filmmakers, organized by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and China Film Association. The annual festival is held in one of Chinas large or medium-sized cities each year and usually lasts for five days.

The film festival originates from the Hundred Flowers Awards that wereinitiated in 1962 by Popular Cinema, Chinas most distributed film magazine and the Golden Rooster Awards that began in 1981. These two awards are of the longest history and largest scale and influence in Chinas film industry. They were combined into The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in 1992. Since 2005, the awards are each presented every alternate year, the Golden Rooster Awards in odd-numbered years and the Hundred Flowers Award in even-numbered years.

The Golden Rooster Awards focus on expertise while the Hundred Flowers Awards are decided by popular vote.

In 1962, 117,000 votes were received for the Hundred Flower Awards, the number increased to 180,000 in the following year.

No awards were presented between 1964 and 1979, but when the third Hundred Flowers Awards were held in 1980, 700,000 votes were received. The awards are also known as the "peoples choice awards."

In comparison, the Golden Rooster Awards are the most prestige professional awards in Chinas film industry. The jury is made up of film scholars and experts and the awards are also known as the "experts awards."