It's a pleasant surprise that another masterpiece, Saturday Fiction, will be screened as grand finale at the 11th BJIFF.

Being adapted from Hongying's novel Death in Shanghai and Riichi Yokomitsu's novel Shanghai, the film Saturday Fiction is directed by Lou Ye, written by Ma Yingli, starred by Gong Li and Mark Chao. The film tells the story of famous actress Yu Jin (Gong Li) who returns to Shanghai in 1941 in order to perform in the drama Saturday Fiction directed by her former love Tan Na (Mark Chao), but her appearance draws the attention of all parties to her moves, hoping to find out the real purpose of her return. The fate of a woman is so closely affected by the era that it is really hard to distinguish the friends and foes in the play. Under the undercurrents, she makes a decision which changes the world... 

Saturday Fiction, starring Gong Li and Mark Chao

It is the first time for director Lou Ye to cooperate with actress Gong Li. As one of the sixth-generation directors in China, Lou Ye is known for the full-length shot and precise actor scheduling. Due to his extremely realistic style, he becomes one of the Chinese directors with international attraction. In the film Saturday Fiction, he aims the shot at Shanghai during the "isolated island" period for the first time, using black and white images with rich layers and profound meaning to demonstrate the complicated and changeable turning point of times based on “small” narrative and “big” history. The film was shortlisted for the Main Competition Section of the 76th Venice International Film Festival and the Special Screening Section of the 44th Toronto International Film Festival. With the unique film language and narrative, this film attracted the attention of professional media and film critics overseas. The critics comment that Lou Ye tactfully interweaves the illusory drama on the stage with the great historical changes in the real world. 

Saturday Fiction, starring Gong Li, co-starring Zhang Songwen

As the chief protagonist, Gong Li, President of the International Jury of “Tiantan Award" at this BJIFF, once again presents her eye-catching acting skills in this film. The role of Yu Jin she plays shuttles her mysterious identity between a star and an agent and her story itself is full of suspense and mystery. In that turbulent era, Yu Jin fights against her fate with her own struggles, which enables the audience to find a brand-new Gong Li with another wonderful achievement in her career of performance.

Saturday Fiction, starring Gong Li, co-starring Huang Xiangli

This film also attracts a number of international film stars including Japanese actors Joe Odagiri and Ayumu Nakajima, French veteran actor Pascal Greggory and the star of Game of Thrones, Tom Wlaschiha. In addition, Zhang Songwen, the actor with accomplished acting skills who has cooperated with Lou Ye for many times, Huang Xiangli, the "queen of monodrama" who plays in the film for the first time and Wang Chuanjun, the young actor, are all the highlights of this film. 

Saturday Fiction, co-starring Joe Odagiri

For the international film festival, the closing film is of special significance of concluding the past and opening the future. It draws a full stop to this film festival and opens up a new expectation, highlighting the vision of looking into the future. The film Saturday Fiction is selected as the closing film to drop the curtain of the BJIFF with the internationalized Chinese story, it will surely live up to the expectations of all the film fans.