The next project of Golden Bear-winning Chinese filmmaker Wang Quan'an is likely to be one he dropped several years ago.

Wang will again take the directing baton for "Bai Lu Yuan" ("White Deer Plain") after quitting the project in 2007, Chinese media reported, citing the film's producers.

Producers have announced that the deadline for filming to start is February 1, 2011, meaning Wang will resume work on the film within 10 months. Casting is yet to begin.

The film is adapted from Chen Zhongshi's 1993 novel of the same name, which tells the hardships of several generations living on the Bai Lu Yuan plain, mirroring the radical changes taking place in the Chinese countryside over half a century. The novel won the Mao Dun Literature Award, China's highest award for literature, in 1997.

Chinese director Wang Quan'an promotes his film "Apart Together" in Beijing on February 8, 2010. [CFP]

Wang Quan'an first got involved with the film adaptation in 2003, but quit after four years of preparation, citing a disagreement between him and the then-producers.

During his preparation for "Bai Lu Yuan", Wang made "Tuya's Marriage", which won him the top Golden Bear award at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival. Wang once said making "Tuya's Marriage" was a means of polishing his filmmaking skills in preparation for "Bai Lu Yuan".

Although the then producers of "Bai Lu Yuan" said the film would forgo Wang, the project ran aground later for several other reasons.

A producer recently told the Xi'an Evening News, "We have considered such directors as Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou... but we still feel Wang Quan'an is the one."

Wang Quan'an is best known for "Tuya's Marriage", as well as his latest film, "Apart Together", which won the Silver Bear for Best Script at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.