I'm a hopeless romantic. I consider myself a realistic person who usually finds stories from real life people.

I have always wanted to make a film about my parents' generation, which tried every way to escape from the deadly shadow of war and finally settled down in Hong Kong in the '50s to build a home from nothing. Arguably, they are the first generation of Hong Kong people to turn this remote island into a modern city.

I'm a hopeless romantic. I consider myself a realistic person who usually finds stories from real life people.

Being a very bad daughter, I never really took time to sit down and listen to my mother's story, and she passed away in 2003. I became very guilty and began to spend a lot of time with older people. I listened carefully to their stories.

"A Tale of Three Cities" is a tribute to our parents' generation, who escaped from city to city in search of their loved ones and in search of a place to build a better home. The story is set during the turbulent war years in China in the '40s and '50s.

I like the powerful story, the excellent performances the beautiful cinematography and the vision of the "The Piano".

Be yourself. Forget about whether you are male or female and just work hard to become a director who truly knows her craft and the direction she wants the film to go. People respect a director for her work regardless of her gender.