The dark comedy, directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, follows a group of world leaders who meet at the G7 — a political and economic meeting of the minds between Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Back at the fest with his seventh competition film, the Chinese auteur discusses how he made the epic project, which started in 2001: “It really was like time-traveling.”