GONG LI MONTH!
Zhang Yimou is one of the greatest filmmakers to emerge from mainland China. From his very first film in the late 1980s, his breathtaking visual style and stunning narrative drive entranced the world. His strong, distinct voice as an auteur filmmaker brought a cinematic energy from mainland China that exhilarated Western sensibilities and has never been matched. He continues to make celebrated films, most recently One Second, which won the Rene Rodriguez Critics Award at the 2022 Miami Film Festival.
Still from “Ju Dou”
Still from “Ju Dou”
A huge part of his early success was his muse, life partner, and star actress, Gong Li. Her beauty and ability to elicit deep compassion for her tragic, suffering characters captured hearts around the world, and she quickly became an international icon and household name among cinephiles.
Ju Dou (1990) is the second of their collaborations and the film that was their international art house breakout hit. It became the first film from China ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for what was known at that time as Best Foreign-Language Film. It is a stirringly beautiful film with grand Shakespearean themes.
As Miami audiences prepare for an extraordinary, major new Gong Li film Saturday Fiction—opening at Tower Theater Miami on April 29th—Miami Film Festival is proud to present this rare digital restoration retrospective screening of Gong Li’s landmark breakthrough, Ju Dou. One night only!
*The screening will be followed by a conversation moderated by Miami Film Festival Executive Director Jaie Laplante.
