Hong Kong director Ann Hui believes Xiao Hong is more than just an artist.

"She is an artist, and I have always wanted to make a film about an artist. But I dealt with her more like an ordinary woman," Hui told Xinhua in an interview as her new film The Golden Era closed the Venice International Film Festival on Sept 14.

The Golden Era is an unconventional biopic of Xiao Hong, a female writer who is well known, yet about whom many details remain obscure. The film pieces together episodes from her writings with impressions and recollections from other writers and friends.