Jean Jacques Annaud: I had my best time in China

Jean Jacques Annaud (left) at the 6th Beijing International Film Festival. [File photo]

"Making the movie Wolf Totem was the most wonderful time I've ever had in my career and my personal life."

The grey haired man said he loved cooperating with the Wolf Totem crew where he felt quite natural and comfortable.

"I asked the crew why they wanted me to direct the movie, and they said they're looking for someone who actually makes movies. 'We have studied your movies while still at school, but we have no idea how you made them. Guess we'll learn it this time and we won't need you anymore.' It sounded cool to me so I agreed."

After that, Annaud and the crew, including author Jiang Rong, drove for 17 miles to reach the shooting place in North China's Inner Mongolia. During the drive, he talked with Jiang about French literature and French paintings, recalling it as a "very congenial experience".

He kept coming back to China every three months for several years to be together with the little wolves, which were specially raised "movie stars". The preparation lasted for seven years and the actual shooting took a year and a half.

"I love my crew, I love my actors, and I love my wolves –well now I can't see them here because they're granted with Canadian passports and now live in the North American prairie."

"I know sometimes people get annoyed because I keep saying that I had a great time in China. But I just can't hide my happiness – after all, it is here I've made the movie that won me recognition from both film critics and audiences alike," Annaud said.