SHANGHAI — Zhang Ziyi, Jackie Chan and Wong Kar Wai opened the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival on Saturday, calling on guests and media to get organized to relieve the victims of China’s devastating earthquake.
But the event around them began in disarray as the press screening of the opening film, Chinese documentary “Olympic Dreamers,” was canceled when its print failed to arrive. Critics and reporters not told of the cancellation were left waiting near the venue in the rain at 8:30 a.m.
At a later press gathering, Zhang (“Memoirs of a Geisha”) said she had helped raise more than $1 million in quake relief at the Festival de Cannes but did not plan a campaign of similar scope in Shanghai, citing the lack of a “proper environment.” She did not elaborate.
Martial arts and comedy legend Jackie Chan (“Forbidden Kingdom”) said he would travel to Japan in July to raise funds to help the 5 million homeless survivors of the May 12 quake in the Sichuan province.
“At the current stage, our task is to help people rebuild,” Chan said.
