Xu Jinglei's newsography

Xu Jinglei’s "Letter" unveiled at San Sebastian

www.chinaview.cn 2004-09-23 13:21:04

BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Xu Jinglei's Letter from an Unknown Woman made its debut at the 52nd San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on Tuesday, the opening day of the eight-day event. Letter will vie for the Golden Shell award against 15 entries from other parts of the world.

Letter, a movie adaptation from an Austrian romance novel by Stefan Zweig, was given special media attention during the festival because only three of the 16 entries were made by female directors and Letter was one of them. Letter is Xu’s second film as director so it has also been entered in the “New Directors” competition category.

Apart from directing, Xu stars in the movie’s leading role opposite veteran Chinese actor Jiang Wen.

Xu kept a low profile before she departed for the film festival: “Letter was invited by the organizing committee of the San Sebastian festival in July before we had finished producing it. I didn’t give them a reply until the end of July after the movie was approved by the official authorities in China. But I don’t want to attract too much media exposure. The market’s response is the only thing that matters to me and is also the only thing that makes a movie a sucess. Inspiring audiences is much more important than earning an award.”

Letter is scheduled for theatrical release in China on Valentine’s Day 2005 and Xu is confident that it will satisfy
audiences: “I give my assurance that moviegoers will feel that every penny they paid for is worth it.”

Xu, in her late 20s, is one of China’s most acclaimed actresses. She used to play genteel and cultivated ladies, but she has used her directing skills to prove that she possesses not only beauty, but wit and intelligence as well. Her first directing credit My Father and I earned rave reviews from critics.

(Shenzhen Daily)
　