Surprise Chinese Winner At Venice Fest

Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke’s film “Sanxia Haoren” (Still Life) has won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize. “The film was a last-minute addition in competition, its name withheld until Sept. 5 because of sensitivities related to acquiring the proper permissions from Chinese censors. It only screened twice on the Lido, and in a poll of 14 leading Italian critics taken on the eve of the closing ceremony, not one listed the film among their top three choices.”