Blood Brothers, the first feature by director Alexi Tan which is produced by John Woo and Terence Chang, will close the Venice Film Festival's 64th edition, out of competition, the Biennale said today.

Fortissimo is handling international sales on the project, and already sold a number of territories during the Cannes Market.

The selection of Tan's film points to artistic director Marco Mueller's personal signature on the festival line-up this year.

The event will be the last of his four-year mandate, which Mueller has promised will reveal 'the future of cinema,' and his line-up announcements so far reflect his ability to push the boundaries in areas of personal expertise, such as Asian cinema.

Tan is of Chinese descent and was born in the Philippines before studying in London and New York. The 38-year-old started his career as a photographer before moving into music videos. His 2003 short film Double Blade caught the attention of Woo and Chang.

Blood Brothers, a China-Taiwan-Hong Kong co-production was inspired by John Woo's Bullet in the Head (Die xue jie tou) - which recounts the story of a group of friends who lose their innocence in 1930s Shanghai.

Like that film, Brothers is set in a framework of 1930s Shanghai decadence, inhabited by war lords, politicians, businessmen, concubines and gangsters. The film tracks the lives of three youths who come to the city in search of a better life but find themselves, separately, living lives of crime and dange.

The cast includes Liu Ye, Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, Shu Qi, and Tony Yang.

As previously announced, Mueller's line up also fetes Venice's history and underscores the event's supportive role to innovative talents: Bernardo Bertolucci will receive a special Jubilee Golden Lion while Venice's lifetime achievement Lion will go to Tim Burton.

Quentin Tarantino will host a spaghetti Western retrospective and German director Alexander Kluge will direct an overview of the last 75 years of cinema.

The 64th edition of the 75-year-old Venice Film Festival runs August 29-September 8. As previously reported, Venice will open with Joe Wright's Ian McEwan adaptation Atonement.

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