Enter stage right

"I was shocked to find that there are hundreds of styles of operas in Anhui, and people there pass on their culture through opera rather than via the written word," says Hu.

The film, which stars actors Fu Dalong and Ma Jinghan and actresses Ma Yili and Wang Ziwen, went into production in December of 2015. With its shooting schedule of one scene per day, filming wrapped up within the space of six months.

Ma Jinghan plays the role of Wang Runsheng, who works his way up from being a teenage opera performer to become an opera star in his own right during the course of the film.

Ma spent six years from the age of 10 practicing Peking Opera, but he had never performed any of the six operas that appeared in the film.

"I spent nearly two months ahead of shooting rehearsing the operas, which all required very different roles," says Ma. "My onstage and offstage personas were on two very different levels."

Speaking of the complexities of his character, Ma says: "The first part of the story is more about his love life. Later he puts all his heart and soul into opera, and he feels that it is his responsibility to pass on the art form."

The line that impresses Ma the most in the film is when his character tells his son: "You need to keep practicing opera, and one day someone will think highly of you".

Ma says Hu's directing taught him a lot as an actor. Hu rehearsed each scene thoroughly with him, going through the lines and guiding him through each small gesture, right down to a sigh.

Hu thinks Ma's understanding of Peking Opera helped him grasp the role, and bring more vivid details to the character.

"He would talk naturally and stretch his legs at the same time, which is a habit for opera performers that I didn't think of," Hu remembers.