KUALA LUMPUR: Popular Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing may be the ambassador for Visit Melaka Year 2024, but she would be honoured to promote the "rice bowl state" Kedah too.
In fact, the 43-year-old actress greatly enjoyed herself over the last month, filming her latest movie amidst the green-and-golden paddy fields of Alor Star district.
"I love Kedah, its rice fields are breathtaking and the people are super friendly too.
"While playing a farmer was pretty tiresome, I love the great outdoors and felt that filming here was an amazing eco-adventure," she said at a press conference to announce her latest film Mother Bhumi at Berjaya Times Square Hotel here today.
In fact Fan described her experience in Kedah as her "best back-to-nature excursion thus far" and would love to visit the north-western state again someday.
"I even learnt to muster some words of Kedah Malay, it is a unique dialect," she said, adding that she also learnt to chant in the Pali language for a spiritual scene.
Fan's latest film is directed by Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun who is working with her for the first time.
Chong said: "The film is about a community of farmers living in Kedah. Bing Bing is Hong Im, a farmer who recently lost her husband under mysterious circumstances and she uses magic to address villagers' everyday issues until she encounters a ghost that reveals a secret about her husband's death."
The cast also includes Taiwanese actor Bai Run-Yin and Hong Kong actress Natalie Hsu as Hong Im's son and daughter, respectively, and veteran Malaysian theatre star Pearlly Chua as Hong Im's best friend.
Chong's previous works include Story Of The Southern Islet, which earned him the best new director award at the Golden Horse Awards in 2020, and Snow In Midsummer which received nine Golden Horse nominations.
Mother Bhumi is a co-production between Janji Pictures and Volos Films Italia.
Chong said: "Working with Bing Bing is a blast. She adapts to Malaysian ways pretty fast and I would love to work with her in more movies."