02/08/2002

Gong Li will preside the international jury of the official competition at Venice 59. This is not a first time for the Chinese actress who did the honours at the 2000 edition of the Berlin Festival, directed by Moritz De Hadeln.
Venice contributed to raising Gong Li’s international profile starting in 1991 when her starring role in Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern contributed to the film’s winning a Silver Lion. The following year she walked away with the best actress Coppa Volpi for Yimou’s follow-up film entitled The story of Qiu Ju, the winner of the Golden Lion.
Gong Li’s most recent film is Zhou Yu’s Train by Sun Zhou, the Chinese director who made Breaking the silence in 1999.