by Levi J Parsons
MELBOURNE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- With filming almost ready to wrap on one of the biggest China-Australia co-productions ever, director Xue Xiaolu sat down for an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently, to discuss what audiences can expect from the highly anticipated action-thriller.
Inspired by real-life news stories in 2009, she said the concept for "The Whistleblower" has been in her mind for a number of years.
"The story is about a foreign employee who discovers some dangerous secrets about the company he works for," Xue said.
"In order to protect the public and his fellow Chinese staff, he's forced to put himself at risk to uncover the truth."
Known for a string of highly successful dramas and romantic comedies like Finding Mr. Right, Book of Love and Ocean Heaven, the revered filmmaker also wrote the screenplay for the harrowing Chinese TV hit -- Don't Talk to Strangers.
But with the chance to try something different and take on a new challenge, Xue found the opportunity to branch out very exciting.
"This film has many action scenes," she said.
"Because I haven't had much experience with action scenes before, this is my first attempt to change up the themes and style of my films."
Speaking highly of her Australian cast and crew members, the American-based director said her "excellent" team down under have played a major role in bringing her 30 million U.S. dollar blockbuster creation to life.
"It's a great honour for me to work with Australian filmmakers, they are the most professional film crew I have ever met," she said.
"I feel like I'm working with the best crew, they have given me a lot of help and advice."
With the movie set in three different locations across China, Africa and Australia, the city of Melbourne was selected because of its wide range of urban landscapes.
"There are a lot of story elements that attracted us, such as rivers, railways and the combination of low to high density of residential areas," Xue said.
When location scouts arrived they also found rural areas on the outskirts of the city which looked surprisingly similar to parts of Africa.
Able to call upon actors from Melbourne's thriving population of African migrants, the production decided to film the African scenes around the city, transforming suburban Aussie streets to look like a downtown district in Malawi.
Although Xue has used the movie to branch out and put herself in unknown territory, she's also chosen to keep some things familiar.
For the fourth time in one of her films she will feature beloved Chinese actress Tang Wei.
"She is the actress who I've worked with most often and for the longest period," Xue said.
"We are very familiar with each other's personality, the way of acting and also work behaviors."
"So the cooperation process is relatively smooth with us."
Alongside Tang Wei, The film also stars lead actor Lei Jiayin.
After production heads back to China in early October for a few extra days of filming, audiences can expect to see the movie in cinemas some time in the middle of next year, following the lengthy post-production process.
