Hong Kong director Ann Hui’s The Golden Era (Huang jin shi dai) now becomes the second title revealed for the next edition on the Lido. Joining South Korea’s Kim Ki-duk’s One On One (opener for the Venice Days section), Hui’s period drama has been selected as the closing, out of comp film for the 71st Venice Film Festival.
A prominent figure in the HK New Wave, Hui who was supposed to retire with her last film, is cited as having selected a more experimental template for the biopic — this recounts the life story of radical Chinese writer Xiao Hong (Wei Tang from Lust, Caution fame) and her partner Xiao Jun before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. This will be released in China this October. Last time the director was in Venice, her film A Simple Life won a handful of awards including Best Actress prize.
