Stunning stunts

Jackie Chan's annual film festival recently concluded in Datong with a Chinese action hit topping the awards, Xu Fan reports.

Top Chinese actor Jackie Chan, who has performed perilous scenes in more than 200 films over the past four decades, entertained his guests with stunts at a recent film event he has founded.

At the closing ceremony of the International Jackie Chan Action Movie Week held in Datong, Shanxi province, on Sunday, the 64-year-old superstar used a rope to alight from a helicopter that was hovering around 70 meters above the ground, thrilling his audience. The annual festival, in its fourth edition this year, was held in Shanghai for the past three years.

This year's event screened a dozen action blockbusters and honored industry talent.

For Chan, who ranked 59th on US magazine Forbes' 2018 highest-paid celebrity list, the festival is a recognition of stunt performers in the movie business. Chan, who's also a martial arts expert, began his film career as a stuntman in Hong Kong in the early 1970s. He wasn't paid much at the start, but the action scenes that included a lot of jumping, rolling and falling were risky.

"I was once slammed down hard against a cement floor, six times in a week. Every day I clenched my teeth to stand up. I was paid just HK$5 ($0.64) a day," Chan told his audience in Datong.