Zhang Yimou’s “One Second” has been removed from the Berlin Film Festival, with officials for the competition citing “technical difficulties.”
There will now be just 16 films chasing Bear awards.
Below is the full Berlinale statement on the matter.
Due to technical difficulties encountered during post-production, “Yi miao zhong” (“One Second”) by Zhang Yimou unfortunately cannot be presented on February 15 in the scope of the Competition section of the Berlinale. The competition will thus feature a total of 16 films vying for the coveted Bear awards.
The festival will instead show another film chosen from Zhang Yimou’s previous body of work at the Berlinale Palast on February 15. Further information will be announced as soon as possible.
Zhang is the Chinese director of films such as “Hero,” “The House of Flying Daggers” and more recently “The Great Wall” with Matt Damon. And he also directed the opening ceremony to Beijing’s Olympics. His very first film, “Red Sorghum,” in 1988 won the festival’s Golden Bear Prize, and his films “Hero” and “The Road Home” have also been awarded prizes at past festivals.
“One Second” is Zhang’s love letter to cinema, and it’s based on a novel by Zhang’s frequent collaborator Yan Geling telling the story of a movie fan in a remote farmland who strikes a relationship with a homeless, female vagabond. But the film is set during China’s cultural revolution, a politically tumultuous time in the country’s history.
Another Chinese film, “Better Days,” was also pulled from the festival’s Generation section earlier this month.
The Berlin Film Festival started on Feb. 7 and continues until Feb. 17.