Kang Je-gyu, South Korean director.[Photo provided to China Daily]

A festival of short films by Chinese and South Korean filmmakers on the theme "share your dreams" kicked off in Dachang county, Hebei province, last week.

It is the annual show's second edition that is co-hosted by South Korean entertainment giant CJ E&M and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Forty-two films made it to the competition section from an entry list of about 570 films, each not more than 30 minutes in duration. The winners, to be announced at the end of the festival on Saturday, will get a cash award of up to 20,000 yuan ($3,130) and training in a few film studios of South Korea.

"I didn't expect short films to cover so many social issues," says Kang Je-gyu, a veteran Korean director, who is on this year's festival jury.

He is globally renowned for directing the Korean wartime epic Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War.

Huang Jianxin, a director and deputy head of the China Film Association, considers short films the "necessary" step to becoming a good filmmaker.