The 62nd Venice Film Festival opened today in Italy, with the opening ceremony to be followed by a screening of Hong Kong auteur Tsui Hark's martial arts epic Seven Swords.

The 11-day event comprises four main sections: In Competition (feature films), Out of Competition (movies already established in past festivals), Horizons (new trends in cinema) and Corto Cortissimo (short flicks).

Director Marco Müller is president of this year's judging panel and Chinese novelist Zhong Acheng, who's story was behind Chen Kaige's Cannes Film Festival contender King of the Children (1987), has been selected a jury member.

Of the 19 contestants for the Golden Lion, the festival's top award, only one is Chinese: Everlasting Regret, directed by Stanley Kwan Kam-pang. It follows a legendary Shanghai beauty from her glamorous youth to a simpler life as she struggles to preserve the dignity of her past while surviving the constant betrayal of men. She stands tall and proud as she bears witness to the waves of changes to her city from 1947 to 1981, until finally overwhelmed.

Due to its sensitive plot, the film has not yet passed the censors at China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). But SARFT officials and Shanghai Film Group, the movie's producer, both declared that Everlasting Regret would be able to join the competition, despite two days' delay to its screening in Venice.

Stanley Kwan was pleased with Sammi Cheng Sau-Man's role as a woman from the ages of 20 to 50, and said he expected her to win the best actress award. The movie is set for release in Hong Kong and China's mainland in September.

Oscar winning director Ang Lee from Taiwan Province will also compete with his latest US-made film Brokeback Mountain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger.

In the Horizons section, two edgy Chinese female directors are on the list: Ning Ying's Wu Qiong Dong and Li Yu's Rosy Cheeks.

The festival is also presenting a special program called "The Secret History of Asian Cinema," in which a retrospective section on Chinese film 1934 to 1990 is included, dedicated to the centenary of China's film industry. Together with films made during 1930-1949 there will be two short works of Shanghai cinema from those years, some restored masterpieces of the director Xie Jin, and filmmakers who successfully combined Hollywood and Soviet cinema, such as Sun Yu and Yuan Muzhi. Tieshan Gongzhu (The Princess with the Steel Fan), 1941 by brothers Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan, the first feature-length Chinese cartoon, will also be shown.

"Asian filmmaking confirms its vitality, and with this year's most important works demonstrates that it has once again been capable of challenging the most intelligent spectacular effects from Hollywood," declared Marco Müller.

Müller also asked contributions from experts around the globe for a book on China's film history to be published during the festival.

Non-competition screenings include Taiwan singer Jay Chow's debut film Initial D, a story about fierce competition amongst a group of young racers, and the festival's official close on September 10 will be marked by Perhaps Love, a musical by Hong Kong director Peter Ho-Sun Chan.

The Secret History of Asian Cinema:

Dalu (1934) by Sun Yu
Tao li jie (1934) by Ying Yunwei
Xin nüxing (1935) by Cai Chusheng
Malu tianshi (1937) by Yuan Muzhi
Shizi jietou (1937) by Shen Xiling
Yeban gesheng (1937) by Maxu Weibang
Tieshan gongzhu (1941) by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan
Xiaocheng zhi chun (1947) by Fei Mu
Wuya yu maque (1949) by Zheng Junli
San Mao liulang ji (1949/50) by Zhao Ming and Yan Gong
Wo zhe yibeizi (1949/50) by Shi Hui
Wutai jiemei (1965) by Xie Jin
Zhonglie tu (1975) by King Hu
Yige he bage (1983) by Zhang Junzhao
Mama (1990) by Zhang Yuan

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, August 31, 2005)