A bigger, starrier and more-crowded-than-ever Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) will take place from Jun 14 to 22.

Stars on the red carpet

Where it all began

A bigger, starrier and more-crowded-than-ever Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) will take place from Jun 14 to 22.

This year, audiences will see a greater number of movies shown on more screens in more cinemas, says Wang Jiayan, director for the 17th SIFF.

"A film fan has to have a big heart and be prepared to be surprised, disappointed, happy and sad — all is possible during the festival," says Wang, who has been working on the screening schedules with SIFF since the 1990s. This year he's responsible for organizing the screening of 900 films.

Despite the greatest efforts to schedule more popular films in big cinemas such as Shanghai Film Center and the Grand Cinema, many enthusiastic film fans rushed to buy tickets on the first morning, as soon as they went on sale. They were after tickets for Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather starring Marlon Brando, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver starring Robert De Niro and Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine starring Cate Blanchett.

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