Nearly 300 movies from more than 40 countries and regions will be presented at the 28th Hong Kong International Film Festival which will take place from April 6 to 20, as it was announced Thursday.

Presented by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the 16-dayevent in 2004 will be screening such internationally acclaimed and award-winning films as Bon Voyage, Bernardo Bertolucci's latest production The Dreamers, and Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions which just won the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars.

Buoyed by last year's resounding success, the annual festival will continue to offer a delightful program, and feature several retrospectives and tributes to some of the greatest film personalities including Stan Brakhage, William Chang, Ernst Lubitsch, Shimizu Hiroshi, as well as the local movie stars of Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui.

Baober in Love, claimed as China's first "fusion" film and directed by Li Shaohong, will be shown at the opening of the film festival.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2004)