Pei Pei, Tsang board South Pacific's Girl Meets Boy

First-time director Roseanne Liang’s coming-of-age story is about a New Zealand-born Chinese overachiever who defies her parents’ wishes and falls for a European New Zealander.

Martial arts legend Pei Pei plays the girl’s mother and Tsang her strict father, whose traditional values make it hard for him to accept that his youngest daughter would choose film school over medical school and want to marry a European.

A young cast of New Zealand actors includes Michelle Ang as the headstrong protagonist, Matthew Whelan as her love interest, and Katlyn Wong and Celeste Wong.

Paul Davis and John Barnett are producing the film and the NZ Film Commission and NZ On Air are financing. The producers expect to announce an international sales agent shortly, who will commence sales at the Cannes Marche.

South Pacific Pictures and Sony Pictures will jointly handle the New Zealand theatrical release in March 2011 and Sony will handle the subsequent DVD roll-out.

Roseanne Liang adapted the screenplay from her documentary Banana In A Nutshell with writer Angeline Loo.

Pei Pei gained popularity when she starred in the Shaw Brothers’ 1966 film Come Drink With Me and established herself as Hong Kong’s so-called Queen Of Swords. Her credits include Young Justice Bao and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Street Fighter – The Legend Of Chun Li.

Tsang has appeared in more than 150-films such as John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2, The Killer and Once A Thief, as well as Rush Hour 2, Die Another Day, Memoirs Of A Geisha and Formosa Betrayed.

Auckland-based South Pacific Pictures previously produced Sione’s Wedding and presented Whale Rider.