‘An Unfinished Film’ Trailer: Lou Ye Captures 2020 Wuhan

Director Lou Ye has sparked the ire of the Chinese government for capturing niche stories onscreen; perhaps the biggest backlash came from his docu-fiction feature “An Unfinished Film.”

The aptly-titled film follows a director as he tries to resume shooting of a film he had abandoned 10 years earlier. The only catch? The filmmaker Xiaorui (Mao Xiaorui, who has been Lou’s assistant director on several films) is trying to go into production in Wuhan, China during the January 2020 lockdown. It wasn’t a great place to be.

Qin Hao, Qi Xi, Huang Xuan, Liang Ming, and Zhang Songwen also star.

“Suzhou River” and “Summer Palace” director Lou helms the feature that blends fact with a fictional narrative. The real footage uses images that were banned or blocked by the government, creating a hybrid docudrama that captured the early days of the Chinese lockdown. Lou and Ma Yingli cowrote the script.

The official synopsis reads: “Set in January 2020, the film follows director Xiaorui who convinces his cast and crew to resume the shooting of a film abandoned ten years earlier. With the shoot almost complete, rumors regarding an illness begin to circulate. Some of the cast and crew manage to leave before the hotel is locked down by security guards, everyone left on set is confined to their hotel rooms, and the director must decide whether to halt the filming once again as Wuhan is locked down in the early days of a terrifying pandemic.”

“An Unfinished Film” had its World Premiere at Cannes, where it was nominated for the Golden Eye Award. The feature later won the best narrative feature film and best director prizes at the Golden Horse Film Awards in Taiwan.

Lou previously was in competition at Cannes with his past features “Purple Butterfly” (2003), “Summer Palace” (2006), and “Spring Fever” (2009); “Spring Fever” won the best script prize. Lou is deemed to be one of China’s most controversial filmmakers; he received numerous bans from the Chinese government for producing dramas “Summer Palace” and “Suzhou River” without official approval. “An Unfinished Film” includes unused footage from Lou’s previous films including “Summer Palace.”

“An Unfinished Film” is produced by Phillipe Bober and Ma Yimgli. The cinematography is by Kai Chen, Peng Li, Zeng Jian, and Florian Zinke; the film is edited by Benjamin Mirguet and Tian Jiaming.

“An Unfinished Film” premieres in theaters in New York on March 14, in San Francisco on March 21, and in Los Angeles on March 28, with additional markets to follow. Check out the trailer below.