Mao's Last Dancer being filmed in Sydney

After filming in the mountains of eastern China for five weeks, shooting on the Bruce Beresford-directed movie Mao's Last Dancer has moved to Sydney.

The $25 million production is an Australian film, but it tells the very international story of a Chinese-born man who became a world-renowned ballet dancer.

It stars professional ballet dancers Chi Cao, Amanda Schull and Camilla Vergotis in lead acting roles, alongside better known names like Jack Thompson, Kyle MacLachlan and Joan Chen.

The screenplay was penned by Shine writer Jan Sardi, based on a best-selling book.

An international publishing sensation, Mao's Last Dancer won the Book of the Year Award in Australia and was short-listed for several other prestigious literary awards.

The autobiography tells the inspirational story of Li Cunxin who, as a small boy in the wake of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, was chosen to leave his peasant family and go on an amazing journey, which - as it turned out - led him to freedom and personal triumph.

Sardi was recommended the book by a friend, and immediately fell in love with the story.

He tracked Li down and phoned him in Melbourne, where he now works as a stockbroker.

"I said, 'I'm a writer, please tell me you haven't sold the rights to your book'," Sardi said.

As it turned out Li was in talks with several parties, but hadn't signed on the dotted line because he wanted to ensure a film version of his life was done properly.

It was Sardi's work on Shine that won Li over.

"He said, 'I love Shine, it's one of my favourite films'," Sardi said.

"For Li the most important thing was that whoever did it, did it with integrity and without trying to trivialise things.

"Literally we gazumped (another bidder) about a day before," Sardi said.

"It was a good phone call I made."

The cast and crew recently spent five weeks filming at a location two-and-a-half hours outside Beijing, in rural China, for the scenes when Li was a child.

Beresford said they didn't experience any difficulties filming in the strictly controlled country.

"I was expecting all kinds of disasters," he said.

"Every day I was thinking, 'oh no something's going to go horribly wrong'. But it didn't."

They will now spend the next seven weeks in Sydney filming indoor scenes, before finishing up shooting in Houston, Texas.

Li is now an Australian citizen, but the film concentrates on his earlier life in China and the US.

Producer Jane Scott said Mao's Last Dancer was still very much an Australian film, despite its global setting.

"We are making films for the world," she said.

"It doesn't matter where the story is based when it's a great story.

"This is a story which reaches right out into the world, as Li moved around the world effortlessly as a huge name in ballet."

Li has dropped in on the shoot at Sydney's Theatre Royal, and gave one of the intricate dance scenes a double thumbs up.

"He's been fascinated by it all," Beresford said.

"He seemed quite pleased with it."