Ann Hui, Carlo Chatrian to Head Pingyao’s Fei Mu, Rossellini Juries

The Pingyao International Film Festival has named Hong Kong director Ann Hui and Italian critic and programmer Carlo Chatrian as jury presidents of the Fei Mu Awards and the Roberto Rossellini Awards, respectively, ahead of the festival’s 10th edition, running Sept. 24–30, in Pingyao, China. The Fei Mu Awards, recognized by Fei Mu’s family, aim to carry on Fei Mu’s aesthetic legacy, support up-and-coming filmmakers from Chinese-speaking regions and encourage the development of Chinese-language films. Recipients are selected from among the Chinese-language feature films in the Hidden Dragons section. The Roberto Rossellini Awards were established at the festival by Fondazione Roberto Rossellini and honor the director’s humanist legacy, celebrating outstanding films and the young directors who make them while championing cinema as an art form. Winners are selected from films by emerging international directors in the Crouching Tigers section. Popular on Variety Hui, a film director born in Anshan, China, moved to Hong Kong at age five and was educated there. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Hong Kong, where she studied English and Comparative Literature, before training at the London Film School. She entered the film industry as an assistant to director King Hu in 1975, then joined Television Broadcasts Limited and RTHK’s television unit. Her 1979 directorial debut, “The Secret,” established her as a defining figure of the Hong Kong New Wave. “The Spooky Bunch” (1980) and her Vietnam Trilogy – “The Boy from Vietnam” (1978), part of the “Below the Lion Rock” series, “The Story of Woo Viet” (1981) and “Boat People” (1982) – solidified her early reputation as a filmmaker to watch. Hui has directed over 20 films to date. Her major works include “Summer Snow,” “Ordinary Heroes,” “The Way We Are,” “A Simple Life,” “The Golden Era” and “Our Time Will Come,” along with literary adaptations such as “Love in a Fallen City,” “Eighteen Springs,” “Love After Love,” “The Book and the Sword” and “The Postmodern Life of My Aunt.” Her films have earned six Hong Kong Film Awards for best film and six for best director, placing her among the most decorated filmmakers in that award’s history. The Asian Film Awards gave her its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and the Venice Film Festival honored her with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at its 77th edition in 2020. She has also served as president of the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild and holds the vice chair role at the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. Chatrian, a journalist, author and programmer, was born in Torino. He has contributed film criticism to numerous newspapers and magazines over the years. He led the Locarno Film Festival as artistic director from 2013–2018, then held the same post at the Berlinale from 2020–2024, and has served on festival juries at Sundance, Toronto, Tokyo, Morelia and Hong Kong. He now directs the National Museum of Cinema in Torino and belongs to both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and, separately, the Academy of Italian Cinema. The festival said the rest of the jury lineup would be confirmed at a later date.