NEW DELHI: India’s ‘Siddharth’ by Richie Mehta is all set to compete at the fourth Beijing International Film Festival of which filmmaker Raj Kumar Hirani is a jury member.

The Festival will be held from 16 to 23 April and the competition comprises 13 foreign films and two Hong Kong co-productions. Christophe Gans’ live-action Beauty and the Beast will open the festival on 16 April.

The jury which will decide on the 10 prizes in the Tiantan Awards competition is headed by John Woo. Apart from Hirani, the other members are China's Lu Chuan, Ireland's Jim Sheridan, France's Philippe Muyl, Spanish producer Andrés Vicente Gómez and Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

Other films in competition include Lee Joon-ik's Hope, Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo, the renowned WongKar-wai The Grandmaster and Peter Chan's American Dreams in China.

In addition to the three new programmes announced earlier this month, this year's festival also includes programmes for restored classics, IMAX films, "micro-films" (or short films) and musicals.

Organisers also confirmed its guests for the three panels. Oliver Stone, Alfonso Cuaron, Paramount's Frederick Huntsberry and studio lobbyist Christopher J. Dodd will appear at a forum about co-productions on 17 April.

France's Jean-Jacques Annaud, Taiwan's Peggy Chiao and China's Xue Xiaolu will appear at a seminar on creativity on 18 April. Two additional guests have yet to be confirmed.

Guests at an animation forum on 22 April include Beijing Film Academy Sun Lijun, Aardman Animation's Peter Lord and Brazil's Carlos Saldanha.