"Rain Man" director to head Shanghai film festival

     BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson will serve as president of a seven-member jury for this year's Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), the festival's general manager said on Thursday.

    Levinson, a 69-year-old American director, writer and producer, won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Director for his comedy-drama "Rain Man," which starred Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. His other noted¹ works include "Good Morning Vietnam" (1987), "Bugsy" (1991) and "Sleepers²" (1996).

    Other jury members will include UK screenwriter Christopher Hampton, Japanese director Yoichi Sai, Vietnam-born French director Tran Anh Hung, Spanish actress Paz Vega, Chinese director Wang Quan'an and Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu.

    As of April 15, a total of 1,519 films from 102 countries and regions have applied³ to compete for the festival's top prize, the Golden Goblet⁴, SIFF general manager Tang Lijun said at a press conference on Thursday. Tang added that the number of candidates has "increased greatly" in comparison to previous festivals.

    According to a statement published on the SIFF's official website, the first batch⁵ of films selected for the competition includes films from Argentina, Italy, Japan, Germany, Turkey and Russia.

    One of the competitors is the feature film "There Be Dragons" by British director Roland Joffe, a Palme d'Or award-winner for his 1986 film "The Mission."In addition to forum⁶ discussions on topics such as film industry trends and international cooperative projects, this year's festival will also include a retrospective honoring the late Polish writer-director Krzysztof Kieslowski.

    Several of Kieslowski's works will be screened at the festival, with some of them appearing for the first time on the Chinese mainland. These works will include "The Double Life of Veronique," "A Short Film About Love" and the popular "Three Colors" trilogy ("Red," "White" and "Blue").

    In addition, Japanese filmmaker Shunji Iwai, whose acclaimed⁷ works include "Love Letter" (1995) and "All About Lily Chou-Chou" (2001), will lead the jury for the Asian New Talent Award, another top prize awarded at the festival, Tang said.

    Winners of the Asian New Talent "Best Director" and "Best Picture" awards, which are intended to encourage innovation in the Asian film industry and promote Asian films to the rest of the world, will each receive a cash prize of 300,000 yuan (46,153 U.S. dollars), Tang said.

    The festival, which has been held annually⁸ since 1993, will run from June 11 to 19 this year.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 sleepers   

n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环

参考例句：

• He trod quietly so as not to disturb the sleepers. 他轻移脚步，以免吵醒睡着的人。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. 保姆出去了，只剩下我们两个瞌睡虫。 来自辞典例句

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 goblet   

n.高脚酒杯

参考例句：

• He poured some wine into the goblet.他向高脚酒杯里倒了一些葡萄酒。
• He swirled the brandy around in the huge goblet.他摇晃着高脚大玻璃杯使里面的白兰地酒旋动起来。

5 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

6 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

7 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

8 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。