LOU Ye (娄烨) rose to fame with Suzhou River (2000) which he wrote and directed, and which won major awards at film festivals in Rotterdam, Paris and Tokyo, as well as the FIPRESCI prize in Venice, and was voted by Time Magazine (Asia) as one of the best movies of 2000. In its wake Lou Ye was banned from making films in China for two years. Since then he has written and directed Purple Butterfly (2003) and Summer Palace (2006), both screened at the Cannes Film Festival to broad critical acclaim. The working title of his current science fiction project is Restorer. He participates courtesy of the Asian Cultural Council.