Fan Bingbing Stars in Chong Keat Aun’s ‘Mother Bhumi’

Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing headlines “Mother Bhumi,” the third feature film from Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun.

The film centers on a community of farmers living on the Malaysia-Thailand border. It follows Hong Im, a farmer who recently lost her husband under mysterious circumstances. Hong Im uses black magic to address villagers’ everyday issues until she encounters a ghost that reveals a secret about her husband’s death.

The cast also includes Taiwan’s Bai Run-yin (Golden Horse winner “Old Fox”) and Hong Kong’s Natalie Hsu (“Suk Mung”) as Hong Im’s son and daughter, respectively.

Chong’s previous works include “Story of the Southern Islet,” which screened at Locarno and Rotterdam, and earned him the best new director award at the Golden Horse Awards in 2020. His second feature, “Snow in Midsummer,” was selected for Venice Days in 2023 and received nine Golden Horse nominations. Structured as a multinational Asian co-production, the film probed the race riots in Malaysia that killed a number of Malaysian-Chinese people. Discussion of the topic was largely swept under the carpet in Malaysia and when the film was released in cinemas this summer it was heavily censored.

“Mother Bhumi” is a co-production between Malaysia and Italy. Kew Soon Wong’s Janji Pictures, which produced Chong’s earlier features, is partnering with Stefano Centini’s Volos Films Italia, the Italian branch of Taiwan-based Volos Films (“The Settlers”).

Production is currently underway, with filming expected to conclude in November. The team is targeting a festival circuit release in the second half of 2025.

Since overcoming a period of intense difficulty, which included a massive fine for income tax errors, Fan has become a regular on the European and Asian festival circuit. She has also worked outside China.

One of Fan’s recent international ventures was Han Shuai’s “Green Night,” which played the Berlin, Busan, Singapore and Santa Barbara film festivals. In “Green Night,” Fan played a Chinese woman, trapped in an oppressive life with her Korean husband, and sets out on an adventure with a mysterious green-haired girl, played by Lee Joo-young (“Broker”). Fan was accorded the Singapore International Film Festival’s Cinema Icon Award in 2023.

She also delivered a fan-friendly masterclass in Singapore where, looking back over her career, she spoke fondly about her terrific working relationship with Li Yu, with whom she has worked in “Lost in Beijing,” “Buddha Mountain” and “Double Xposure”; and about “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” where she played Blink, working with Hugh Jackman.