Beijing opens sixth International Film Festival

The 6th Beijing International Film Festival kicked off in Beijing on Saturday with a starry attendance and hundreds of movies to be screened.

Celebrities including Oscar winners Natalie Portman and Christoph Waltz, American film directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat attended the opening ceremony.

A total of 2,329 films from 105 countries and regions have applied for screening during this year's festival. About 500 films have been selected by the organization committee to be screened, up from about 300 last year.

Fifteen movies have been accepted for the main competition and a chance at the Tiantan Award, which offers honors in ten categories, including best feature film, best director, best actor, best actress and best music.

The event, which will run until 23, will also be participated by more than 200 film-related companies and institutions that will display their products and technologies.

The festival has attracted increasing global attentions thanks to China's booming film market, the world's second largest with 44 billion yuan (6.8 bln U.S.dollars) in box office sales in 2015. The festival last year inked deals worth 13.8 bln yuan.