DANISH auteur Bille August’s Chinese historical drama “The Chinese Widow,” starring Emile Hirsch, is set to premiere in competition at the upcoming Shanghai International Film Festival.

August, a two-time Palme d’Or winner, recently served as the jury chair at the Beijing International Film Festival.

“The Chinese Widow” follows the story of a World War II American Air Force pilot who emergency lands in China’s Zhejiang Province after a bombing run on Tokyo. He is rescued by a young Chinese widow and a heart-wrenching love story ensues.

The film is also in competition for Shanghai’s Golden Goblet award. Other competition titles include one other Chinese title, “The Conformist,” by Cai Shangjun, and the American-made “Brigsby Bear,” directed by Dave McCary, and “Our Time Will Come,” by Hong Kong auteur Ann Hui.

The 19th edition of the Shanghai festival, set to run from Saturday to June 26, will feature its usual blend of high-minded retrospectives and crowd-pleasing sidebars. Well attended locally, the event gives Shanghai residents a chance to see films they wouldn’t normally get to experience in theaters.

Romanian helmer Cristian Mungiu is presiding over the jury that will decides the winner of SIFF’s annual Golden Goblet Awards. He is joined by Chinese director Cao Baoping, Chinese screenwriter Li Qiang, American-Macedonian filmmaker Milcho Manchevski, Japanese helmer Sabu, American producer Gary Michael Walters and Chinese actress Xu Qing.

Elsewhere in the program, the event will feature competition sections dedicated to documentary filmmaking and animation. This year’s fest will also show a retrospective of classic Disney animation, including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Dumbo,” “Bambi” and others.

Two sidebars are dedicated to contemporary Japanese cinema this year, showing such films as Yukiko Mishima’s contemporary drama “Dear Etranger” and Hiroshi Nishitani’s adultery romance “Hirugao.”

Jackie Chan Action Movie Week is again set to return with a selection of 20 cutting-edge contemporary action flicks from around the world in a program overseen by Chan himself.

Sci-fi fans can also expect a visual feast. A special section for sci-fi classics will screen three “Alien” movies — U.S. director Ridley Scott’s 1979 space horror “Alien,” its 1986 sequel, “Aliens,” helmed by James Cameron, and its 2012 prequel, “Prometheus” — which coincides with the Chinese mainland debut of the latest “Alien” movie. The sixth installment “Alien: Covenant” opens across the Chinese mainland on Friday.

Other highlights of the Shanghai lineup include “The Matrix” trilogy, “Ghost in the Shell,” and the black-and-white version of “Logan.”

(SD-Agencies)