Ning Hao tells Chinese road trip romance by 'Breakup Buddies'

"Breakup Buddies" is more than meeting the eye, according to Chinese director Ning Hao, who is at the Toronto International Film Festival for the first time with his latest road trip film.

The film follows a man and his best friend, played by Xu Zheng and Huang Bo, who hits the road to deal with the emotional aftermath of his recent divorce.

Ning said "Breakup Buddies" brings fun and humor onto the big screen, but is more than just pure entertainment for the audience.

"This film is about life, about how you face obstacles and how you should deal with them," he told Xinhua in an interview. "What's life's true meaning? I think that's the theme. It's by experiencing these things."

It's not the first time that Ning made a road trip film. His last work, "No Man's Land," also took place on the road - in the remote gobi desert in Xinjiang.

His new film takes on a much different style, according to Ning, who explained how he created a hybrid of genres to mix things up.

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

Road trip films are popular in Hollywood films, but are still seen as a fairly fresh genre for the Chinese audience. Ning is not worried about it though.

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

Ning's film made its world premiere at TIFF this week. Describing it as the most extravagant premiere he has been to, Ning explained 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," said Ning. "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 festival, Ning strongly believes it is crucial to continue telling stories from a local perspective.

"I feel like our culture is different and that's our strength," he said. "So I think we need to continue to showcase our culture, or uniqueness. Filmmakers from other countries each bring their own cultural uniqueness into their work, and that's what makes it stand out."

"Breakup Buddies" is one of the 12 films, including Zhang Yimou's "Coming Home," Wang Xiaoshuai's "Red Amnesia," Ann Hui's "The Golden Era," Johnnie To's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2," Peter Ho-sun Chan's "Dearest," Wu Yonggang's "The Goddess," that travelled 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.