The nomination banquet for the China Film Director's Guild Awards was held in Beijing on March 27, 2016. [Photo/Ynet.com]

The nomination banquet for the China Film Director's Guild Awards has been held in Beijing.

Film celebrities, nominees, and members of the judging panel attended the banquet. Mr. Six and The Dead End each won five nominations, becoming the front-runners at the awards.

This year's awards has seen more young faces than ever. Emerging young directors Chen Sicheng and Han Yan are among the best-known.

The China Film Director's Guild has been working hard to cultivate young talent. In 2015, they launched their "Young Director Support Program" aiming to give more opportunities to young directors.

The program yielded results in the very first year, with the emergence in 2015 of many box-office or reputation "dark hores" mostly helmed by young directors.