Poster of Johnnie To's film "Life without Principle" [Photo: mtime.com]

Chinese director Johnnie To's new film "Life without Principle" is to be included in the top award category at the upcoming 68th Venice International Film Festival, organizers have announced.

The film will join the 21 other films announced earlier, all vying for the Golden Lion award. Two other Chinese films are already among the list - Ann Hui's "A Simple Life" and Wei Te-sheng's "Seediq Bale".

The festival has a tradition of announcing a surprise film, which joins the list of Golden Lion competitors. This year, organizers have said that besides To's film, a second surprise nominee will be announced at a later date.

"Life without Principle" tells a complex story which takes place between a bank employee, a small-time thug and a police officer. It stars Denise Ho, Lau Ching-wan and Richie Ren in the respective roles.

For Johnnie To, best known for his action-crime thrillers, this is not the first time he has competed at the Venice International Film Festival. His film "Mad Detective" was screened as part of the competition in 2007.

This year's festival runs from August 31 to September 10.