The 21st Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, known as the mainland's Academy Awards, will launch a microfilm competition section for the first time in its 20-year history.

The festival will start in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province on Sept 26 and last four days.

The section will honor the 10 best microfilms, 10 best microfilms by college students, and three people who have contributed to the development of microfilms, among other awards.

Applicants should mail their microfilms of between 2 and 30 minutes to the organizing committee before Aug 30.

An awards ceremony will be held on Sept 27 in Shaoxing.

Epic picture of rural life to hit screens

People Mountain People Sea, a film that won the Silver Lion at 2011's Venice International Film Festival, will hit mainland theaters on Aug 3.

The film follows the journey of Lao Tie, in rural China, as he tries to find the killer of his younger brother. The journey turns out to be more important than the result and unfolds a gloomy picture of contemporary China's grassroots life.

Director Cai Shangjun works with veteran actor Chen Jianbin, who often plays ancient emperors. Chen this time breaks his stereotype to play the poor farmer protagonist.