Actress-turned director Jiang Wenli (pictured) has won much acclaim for her maiden film about a young gymnast and her family.

Lan (我們天上見) won the Best Director and Best Actor awards at the first Macao International Film Festival last month, following its Audience Award at the Pusan Film Festival in South Korea, in October.

Set in the 1970s, the film centers on the strong bond between a young girl and her grandfather, who takes care of her and introduces her to the world of gymnastics.

The film is a semi-autobiographical portrait of Jiang, whose parents were too busy to take care of her when she was young and therefore spent a lot of time with her grandfather.

"My grandfather passed away 30 years ago," she says. "It has been a dream for me to make a film about him, a man whose generosity and integrity have been a paramount influence on me."

Jiang says that at the entrance examination for Beijing Film Academy, she was asked to tell the tale of an unforgettable scene in life and recalled her last meeting with her grandfather.

"I never experienced the same feeling again in my acting career," she says. "When I was telling the story everything around me seemed to disappear and I felt like I was talking to my grandfather directly."

Jiang wrote the screenplay and returned to her hometown of Bengbu, in Anhui province, to shoot the film.

Her husband, Gu Changwei, the cinematographer for Farewell My Concubine and Red Sorghum and a renowned director, gave her some advice on the script.

"I thought of asking him to take the camera but that would have made the film a Gu Changwei work, not mine," Jiang says.

Although her maiden work has won much praise, Jiang says this might the last time she directs a movie.

"Directing is so exhausting," she says. "It is like carrying a baby for 10 months. But some friends told me I should definitely do it again, because directing is addictive. I really don't know now."

Starring 80-year-old stage and film actor Zhu Xu, as the grandfather, the film will premiere at the Tomb Sweeping Festival 2010, when Chinese visit the tombs of their dead family members and pay their respects.

"I believe most Chinese audiences will identify with the characters," she says.

"In China it is a tradition that children are brought up by grandparents. I am sure many will feel touched by the film."