In treacherous plot, Gong Li’s character juggles an ex-husband, an adoptive father and the temptation of escaping the war with her lover. (The international cast includes Pascal Greggory , Joe Odagiri and Mark Chao .) For Mr. Ma, the fraught moment in history unexpectedly recalled her time as a student in Germany, though the connection did not come to mind while writing.

“When I was in West Berlin during the 1980s, the wall was still there,” she said. “West Berlin was referred to as a lonely island, because it was completely surrounded.”

Despite the story’s setting, the movie had a smooth process of approval by the Chinese censors. Mr. Lou and Ms. Ma attributed this to the historical nature of the film, which was shot in black and white.

“In terms of the subject matter, the themes and the ideas I’m trying to deal with in this new film, I feel there are similarities with ‘The Shadow Play ’” Mr. Lou said. “They’re both movies that deal with reality versus illusion, what’s real versus what’s fake. Perhaps the distance in terms of time and space makes this movie more palatable.”

The approval process for Chinese releases can be unpredictable. The time frame can vary, Ms. Ma said. It begins with a screenplay review, which typically takes 20 days or less. But once the film is shot and a final cut is ready to present, it might take significantly more time. For “Saturday Fiction,” approval did not take long, to Mr. Lou’s pleasant surprise.

But the possibility of unforeseen delays or cancellation can make a festival programmer a little nervous. That is an understandable concern after the high-profile withdrawal of Zhang Yimou’s latest film “One Second” at the same Berlin festival where Mr. Lou’s “The Shadow Play” appeared.