Taiwan filmmaker Ming-liang Tsai will shoot his new venture "Visages" at the invitation of Louvre museum of Paris, the second Chinese director to enjoy the privilege after director Hsiao-hsien Hou.

"Visages", starring Chinese actor Kangsheng Li and French model-actress Laetitia Casta, will start production on November 10 in Paris, the Beijing Times reported.

The film, a China-France joint production, is based on the Biblical character Salome. It takes Ming-liang Tsai three years and about 50 million yuan to finish pre-shooting preparations.

Unlike the Hollywood blockbuster "The DA Vinci Code" whose producers paid 40,000 euros per day for shooting in the Louvre museum, "Visages" does not have to pay any rental fees. The museum's 3,000 staff is on the other hand required to cooperate with the shooting. They are expected to help the filmmakers in case they get lost in the museum.

(CRI October 16, 2008)