Chinese film wins Special Award at Cannes Film Festival

Director Bi Gan's latest art-house feature, Resurrection, claimed the Special Award at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 24 in France, marking the first time in a decade that a Chinese-language film has been honored in the festival's top-tier main competition.

Receiving the award certificate from Juliette Binoche, the renowned French actress who served as jury president, Bi expressed his gratitude to the cast members and his creative team, as well as his appreciation for the festival, the jury, and those working tirelessly behind the scenes. Binoche hailed the film as an extraordinary work, commenting that it was full of imagination.

The film boasts a stellar cast, featuring actress Shu Qi, whose 2015 martial arts drama The Assassin earned Hou Hsiao-hsien the Best Director award at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, and actors Yi Yangqianxi, whose English name is Jackson Yee, Mark Chao and Huang Jue.

Consisting of six chapters, the film is set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has lost the ability to dream. The story — boldly straddling the line between reality and imagination — begins with a Shu-acting female neurosurgeon discovering the remains of an android, also known as a "movie monster". From there, the narrative follows the android as it traverses different eras of cinema's 100-year history, including the early silent film era.

For Bi, the self-taught filmmaker born in Southwest China's Guizhou province, Resurrection — his third directorial feature — marks his return to the silver screen seven years after the 2018 suspense romance Long Day's Journey into Night. Despite its record presale to gross over 100 million yuan ($13.88 million) on premiere day, the length film — containing an experimental long take lasting 60 minutes — ended as a commercial flop due to mixed reviews.

Now appearing more self-confident, Bi shared that his inspiration for making this long-awaited film was simple. With the world undergoing significant changes in recent years, the 35-year-old director expressed his hope that the film, a cinematic retrospective of the past century of cinema, could offer comfort to those who truly love the art form.

"I know the film industry is going through a difficult and special phase right now. Fortunately, I still have outstanding actors and creators willing to dedicate so much time to this project, which is deeply artistic," he said.

Despite the phenomenal success of Ne Zha 2, which has continued to shatter box office records since its Spring Festival debut, the May Day holiday — the country's most recent major box office season — saw a year-on-year drop of over 50 percent. This decline is seen as dampening domestic filmmakers' morale and signaling the fading appeal of cinemas, attributed to multiple factors, including the unprecedented rise of short videos.

During a sideline interview with Chinese media in Cannes, Bi said he wishes to dedicate Resurrection to the future of Chinese cinema. He revealed plans to make some refinements upon returning to China, ensuring the movie to be generally released later this year.