New film marks 40 years of reform and opening-up

At an event to promote the film in the Great Hall of People, director Liu says the film is based on the story of Hu Xiaoyan, a Sichuan native who moved to work as a laborer in Foshan at 24 in 1998 and was selected as one of the first-batch of rural migrant worker deputies of the National People's Congress in 2008.

"As a female director, I saw the strength of women from Hu, who is very inspirational," says Liu.

Jin, now 44, recalls she once refused to play the protagonist when the crew reached her for the first time.