Montage of Chinese films shines at Busan

If 29 years of the Busan International Film Festival have proved one thing it's that Asia's largest gathering of moviemakers - and movie lovers - always comes full of surprises.

Hong Kong filmmaker Oliver Chan Siu-kuen played a stellar role in ensuring that the tradition continued at this year's event, which ran from Oct 2-11. Chan freely admits that she wants to challenge audiences - confront them; disturb them, even - with her new film Montages of a Modern Motherhood. The film investigates the life of a new mother and the problems she faces trying to adapt to the new role.

"After giving birth, my perspective on other things changed, and my expectations did too," explains Chan, speaking on the sidelines of BIFF. "A lot of people asked me if I still wanted to be a film director or an actor. So I started to feel the pressure and the change.

"Also, in the film industry, there haven't been many directors or works on mothers, or the mothers we have seen in the movies have been stereotypes. So I wanted to show a real mother, with problems that are very real."