Hui strengthens mainland connections

As one of Hong Kong's most prestigious directors, Ann Hui On-wah can more or less pick and choose her projects. Her latest film, Jade Goddess Of Mercy, is unusual in that it's entirely produced and financed by mainland companies.

While Hui has shot several films in China, including kung fu flick Romance Of The Book And Sword (1987) and period drama Eighteen Springs (1997), this marks the first time she's made a mainland film without any Hong Kong investment. Perhaps it's a sign of the times that mainland film producers need Hong Kong's talent and expertise, rather than its cash.

Hui explains that she first heard about the project when she received a call from Beijing-based producer Yang Jian, who runs a production company called Cheng Cheng Film Group. Yang said she planned to produce an adaptation of best-selling Chinese novel Yu Guanyin (Guanyin is the Buddhist goddess of mercy), written by Hai Yan, and asked if Hui would be interested in directing. Hui said yes, after reading the book, and brought on board Ivy Ho - who wrote Hui's last film, the award-winning drama July Rhapsody - to pen the screenplay. 'I wanted to do this film because it seemed to be a mix of all the genres I've directed before,' says Hui, who is currently editing the film in Beijing. 'It's a family drama and a love story, but it's also a police film with some action. It feels like a combination of everything I've ever worked on.'

Mainland actress and pop star Vicky Zhao Wei plays the lead role in the film - a policewoman who falls in love with a drug dealer, played by Nicholas Tse Ting-fung. Not surprisingly, considering her vocation, this romantic entanglement creates a few problems. Complicating matters further is the fact that when she first meets the dealer, she's engaged to be married to somebody else.

Eventually, the plucky female cop puts aside her personal feelings and plunges headlong into a drug-smuggling investigation, regardless of the dangers involved.

'The story sounds quite incredible really - highly unlikely,' says Hui, bursting into laughter. Then she adds in a more serious tone: 'But you often find that life is stranger than fiction.'