Officials from Jilin province and Changchun city field questions at a news conference for the 15th Changchun Film Festival. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The much-anticipated 15th Changchun Film Festival will open on Sept 5 in Changchun -- capital of Northeast China's Jilin province, according to the first news conference of the festival's organizing committee held recently in the city.

Officials told journalists at the news conference on Aug 5 that as one of the four major film festivals in China, the biennial Changchun Film Festival has become an authoritative platform for Chinese film awards, exhibitions and exchanges.

This year’s festival will be held in Changchun on September 5-10 and in addition to the staging of the Golden Deer Award awards, a whole host of other events will be happening.

Officials said these will include film forums, screenings, symphony orchestra concerts, classic and old film reviews, new film releases and poetry recitations.

For the first time, a session for international films has been added to the festival.

Officials said the organizing committee had invited films from production companies in more than 30 countries. They said a number of top international films will participate in online and offline exhibitions, which was the first step for the Changchun Film Festival to become an international-level film festival.

In addition, this year’s festival will increase its innovation in various main activities, holding activities both online and offline and actively introducing advanced technologies such as 5G and VR.