French veteran plans China film

French director Jacques Perrin attends this year's Beijing International Film Festival. [Photo/Mtime]

The director is sad to see much harm done to nature since he made his first documentary more than 20 years ago.

"People cut down forests then because they felt there were many trees," he recalled. "However, the forests have now turned into barren land."

Perrin does not want the themes of his films to be restricted to certain regions as what they say about one country can be universal.

He added that his upcoming film also looks at China's culture, history and architecture through the protagonist's eyes.

He also said that he had to spend a lot of time on research as Chinese provinces have diverse landscapes and cultures.

Perrin even studied historical records to figure out what the major economic activity was in each province centuries ago.