The 15th Changchun Film Festival in Northeast China's Jilin Province Photo: Xinhua News Agency

Following the success of film festivals in Shanghai and Beijing, the 15th Changchun Film Festival in Northeast China's Jilin Province kicked off its opening ceremony on Saturday.

For 2020, the film festival set up a new unit that selected 40 films from among more than 600 classic films from abroad for the festival's international film exhibition unit, China News reported on Sunday.

The screenings for the unit include films that won awards or were shortlisted at world-renowned international film festivals at Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Toronto.

The 4k restored version of classic films Rebecca starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine and Sunset Boulevard starring by William Holden and Gloria Swanson will also be screened at the festival, according to reports. 

Compared with the Shanghai International Film Festival and Beijing International Film Festival, both of which canceled their award ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film festival in Changchun will still award its Jinlujiang, or Golden Deer Prize. A total of 15 films including The Climbers, Sheep Without A Shepherd, My People, My Country and The Captain will compete for the award.

Chinese actor Wu Jing, star of action blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 and sci-fi hit The Wandering Earth, is one of the ambassadors of the festival in 2020. Speaking to media, the star described film as a beam of light in the darkness that can arouse people's pursuit of beauty, kindness and honesty. 

The virus crisis has canceled, delayed or forced online many international film festivals around the world including the Cannes, San Sebastian, Toronto and Busan film festivals.

With China having achieved great strides in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, domestic film festivals and cinemas have gradually resumed their former prosperity, providing hope for the global film industry, CRI Online reported on Sunday.