Another rare face in town over the weekend was actress and director Joan Chen Chong. Chen, who starred in Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and directed Richard Gere and Wynona Ryder in Autumn in New York, talked to CitySeen about her plans. 'I've written a script and I'm going to try directing again,' she said. 'I can't say what the story's about yet, but the movie will be set in contemporary Shanghai. I found that there are movies about Shanghai in the 20s and the 30s but not much that is contemporary.'
Chen said directing was a more intense and draining endeavour than acting, but the intensity is 'what one lives for' in the movie industry.
In town to officiate at the opening of Louis Vuitton's first watch and jewellery shop, Chen said she was last here for New Year 1997.
Although she misses the city, the 43-year-old is content to let events decide whether and when she will be filming here in future. 'I've never actually planned anything in my career,' she told CitySeen.