The organisers of the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) have confirmed that this year's event will not take place as scheduled next month (June 7-15). Instead, the event has been postponed until 2004, when it will run June 5-13.

Organisers are concerned that the worsening SARS situation in mainland China will deter overseas guests from attending. But they also face the possibility that guests arriving from other parts of China could help spread the disease.

Shanghai has so far remained relatively SARS free, according to official figures, with only six cases reported as of yesterday compared to almost 2,000 in Beijing and around 1,600 in Hong Kong.

Local authorities attempted to impose a 14-day quarantine on visitors from infected areas last week. But the quarantine was lifted after criticism from Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.

This year's SIFF was scheduled to screen more than 300 films and feature an International Film Competition and International Film Panorama along with a film and TV programme market.

The festival is the third high-profile film event in Greater China to be either postponed or cancelled because of SARS.

Organisers of the Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) are talking to the Hong Kong government about an indefinite postponement of the event which was originally scheduled for April.

Meanwhile Hong Kong's Filmart has been postponed from June to September.