Actress Carina Lau on the gamble that took her to Cannes

For award-winning actress Carina Lau Kar-ling, the glitter and glamour of the Cannes International Film Festival was nothing new.

However, the difference at this year's event was that she was in the thick of the action as a best actress nominee for her performance in the film . The highly rated, slow-paced drama, directed by first-time filmmaker Flora Lau, was screened at the world's premier film festival.

Although Carina Lau didn't win the acting prize, her performance as a rich housewife abandoned by her husband earned international praise.

Now, the veteran actress is looking at a globe-trotting tour with at film festivals from Toronto to London.

But Lau admits she struggled initially over whether she should take the offer from a first-time filmmaker.

"You bet I hesitated," says the beauty, sitting in her recently opened restaurant on the 18th floor of a busy Tsim Sha Tsui shopping mall. "I actually thought about it for quite some time before I committed."

Her main concern was not to make any more mistakes in her career - and understandably, a young filmmaker usually isn't a convincing element for a foolproof formula.

The character, however, offered the kind of challenge Lau has long sought in her roles.

Co-starring alongside famous mainland actor Chen Kun, Lau plays Anna Li, a middle-aged and rich woman married to a businessman.

The character enjoys a comfortable life until her husband disappears and her credit card is cancelled. The movie looks at her travails and those of her driver, played by Chen.