Acclaimed actress Lucy Liu is in Cannes in assist of The Pirate Queen: No Secure Waters, a “cinematic immersive experience” that Liu produced together with Eloise Singer. Liu additionally narrates the movie, which premieres as a part of the fest’s Immersive Competitors.
Right here, she solutions three of The Hollywood Reporter‘s most urgent questions across the challenge.
Do you bear in mind your first time in Cannes?
My first expertise at Cannes was for Kung Fu Panda, and I bear in mind feeling utterly swept up by it. Till then, I had by no means been in an area so intensely dedicated to creative expression on that degree. What struck me most was how intimate it might nonetheless really feel regardless of the dimensions of the competition — strolling by way of it, listening to totally different languages, encountering folks from fully totally different backgrounds, and feeling this unbelievable connection by way of a shared love of storytelling.
What brings you, or your voice, to the Croisette this 12 months?
This 12 months feels very totally different from my first time at Cannes for Kung Fu Panda. The iPhone had solely simply been launched, and the best way we skilled movie, media and connection felt utterly totally different from as we speak. Now, with the introduction of the immersive competitors, this return feels particularly significant.
Our challenge, The Pirate Queen: No Secure Waters, is a narrative I really feel very enthusiastic about bringing to audiences. At its coronary heart is the story of a girl who existed outdoors conventional buildings of energy, but modified the course of historical past by way of her ingenuity, resilience and intelligence, at a time when it was practically unimaginable for a girl to be seen and even allowed an training. Connecting audiences to that legacy by way of an immersive format seems like precisely the fitting strategy to inform it.
What will get you enthusiastic about immersive?
What’s thrilling to me about immersive is that The Pirate Queen is a narrative that’s deeply historic and never but extensively identified to audiences. The immersive format creates an atmosphere the place folks can obtain her story in a much more compelling and quick method. It’s additionally a possibility to introduce the Chinese language tradition at a pivotal second of their historical past by way of a really trendy lens. This feels particularly vital proper now, as a result of there may be a lot content material competing for consideration. Immersive storytelling creates area for audiences to each observe a narrative and inhabit it. It’s a strategy to honor one thing profoundly historic and cultural, whereas presenting it in a type that meets folks the place they’re as we speak.
‘The Pirate Queen: No Safe Waters’
