Breakup Buddies brings together more than immediately meets the eye, says Chinese director Ning Hao, who was at the Toronto International Film Festival for the first time with his latest road trip film.

The flick follows a man and his best friend - played by Xu Zheng and Huang Bo - as the protagonist hits the road to deal with the emotional aftermath of his recent divorce.

Ning says Breakup Buddies brings fun and humor onto the big screen but is more than just pure entertainment.

"This film is about life, about how you face obstacles and how you should deal with them," he says.

"What's life's true meaning? I think that's the theme. It's about experiencing these things."

Breakup Buddies isn't Ning's first road trip film.

His last work, No Man's Land, also takes place on the road - specifically, in the remote Gobi Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Ning says his new film takes on a much different style. He mixed and matched to create a hybrid of genres, he says.

"It combines another type of genre - romance. And when the two were put together, a very weird thing was created," he says.

Road trip films are popular in Hollywood but are fairly new to Chinese audiences.

"I think it's OK, because I think my way of expression is using comedy, which is accepted in the Chinese market," he says.

Ning's film made its world premiere at the TIFF on Sept 7. Ning describes it as the most extravagant premiere he has attended and explains his decision to take his film to Toronto.

"One award used to be able to change a film's fate. It's not like that anymore, "Ning says.

"I believe it's the start of a new time. There will be new themes, new ways to express them, so we should use a new way to talk about the new China. That's why I felt like we should have a new festival."

After meeting international filmmakers throughout the 11-day event, Ning strongly believes it's crucial to continue telling stories from local perspectives.

"I feel like our culture is different, and that's our strength," he says.

"So I think we need to continue to showcase our culture, our uniqueness. Filmmakers from other countries bring their own cultural uniqueness into their works, and that's what makes them stand out."

Breakup Buddies is one of the 12 films, including Zhang Yimou's Coming Home, Wang Xiaoshuai's Red Amnesia and Ann Hui's The Golden Era, that traveled to Toronto from China this year.

Ning's film was picked up by China Lion Film Distribution for North America and Australia, where it will be released in October, following its Sept 20 release in China.

(China Daily USA 09/18/2014 page8)