Taiwanese actress-singer Rene Liu Ruo-ying is thrilled that one of her stories is being adapted for the screen.
Directed by Seoul Raiders' Jingle Ma Cho-sing and written by actress-director Sylvia Chang Ai-chia, Happy Birthday (working title) is an ill-fated romance about a girl who finds out her ex-boyfriend - who for years had been sending her birthday wishes - has died from a brain tumour.
The story is based on a piece in Liu's third short fiction book, Wo Xiang Gen Ni Zou (I Want to Leave With You), which was released earlier this year. The film, co-starring Louis Koo Tin-lok and produced by Eric Tsang, was shot at the University of Hong Kong campus this week.
Liu (below), whose films include 20:30:40 and A World Without Thieves, said she was surprised that Chang wanted to adapt her writing, which was inspired
by the trivial things that often happen in relationships.
Liu has just completed a super-natural thriller, The Matrimony, directed by mainland filmmaker Teng Huatao and co-starring Leon Lai Ming and mainland actress Fan Bingbing.