"The most extraordinary thing about Chinese director Lou Ye's An Unfinished Film (2024) is how ordinary it is, considering the attention it has garnered globally. In semi-documentary style, the 106-minute flick follows a film crew as they try to resurrect a 10-year-old project, and find themselves quarantined at a hotel near Wuhan, China, in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020."
"Although it is censored in China, the film has won Best Director for Lou at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, the most prestigious stage for Sinophone cinema. Overseas Chinese viewers packed the screenings in Paris and Tokyo; some shouted at the end, "Lou Ye, you are the greatest director from China!" Yet, the accolades the film has received are not so much an assessment of its artistic value but a recognition of its creators' courage."
An Unfinished Film (2024), directed by Lou Ye, uses a semi-documentary style over 106 minutes to follow a film crew attempting to revive a decade-old project and becoming quarantined at a hotel near Wuhan during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The film is stylistically simple compared with Lou's typical intricate narratives, offering minimal plot and character development. The feature premiered at Cannes and provoked both acclaim and controversy, winning Lou Best Director at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards while facing censorship in mainland China. Strong overseas Chinese audience reactions reflected demand for candid pandemic portrayals and the film's subtext of artistic pursuit under political constraints.
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