Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia (CPFPA) has acquired worldwide rights to Taiwanese feature 20:30:40 directed by and starring Sylvia Chang.

The romantic drama, which is currently in post-production, also stars Lee Sin-Je and Rene Liu who won best actress and best supporting actress respectively at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards for their roles in horror film The Eye (Lee) and thriller Double Vision (Liu).

Hong Kong stars Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Anthony Wong and Taiwanese singer-actor Richie Ren also feature in cameo roles.

Chang, who is best known to Western audiences for her performances in Mike Newell's Sour Sweet (1989) and Francois Girard's The Red Violin (1998), has acted in more than 90 films and picked up the best actress trophy at last year's Hong Kong Film Awards for tear-jerker Forever And Ever. She started her directing career in 1979 and most recently directed romantic drama Tempting Heart and cyber romance Princess D.

20:30:40 follows three women aged 20 (Lee), 30 (Liu) and 40 (Chang) as they tackle the complexity of modern relationships. Lee plays a woman leaving home for the first time to pursue a music career; Liu plays a flight attendant juggling affairs with a married man and a young lover; and Chang plays a divorcee facing life as a single woman.

"Sylvia Chang is one of the most versatile filmmakers in Asia today and with her talent for storytelling, the film strikes a universal chord that will cross all age-groups," said CPFPA managing director Barbara Robinson who negotiated the deal.

The film will be distributed throughout Asia and internationally by Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International. North American distribution will also go through Sony.

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