'Memoirs of a Geisha' finishes filming Led by director Rob Marshall, a galaxy of Asian stars, including Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Japan's Ken Watanabe, attended a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, to mark the completion of filming for Memoirs of a Geisha, a much anticipated cooperation between Asian and Hollywood filmmakers. Zhang Ziyi, who had the leading role in Geisha, was absent from the conference because she was shooting a commercial in Romania. Directed by Chicago filmmaker Marshall and co-produced by Hollywood tycoon Steven Spielburg, the film is due out later this year. Spielberg appeared via a video message at the news conference to congratulate the end of shooting the film. Based on the U.S. best-seller of the same name, Geisha is set in 1920s Japan and tells the story of geisha Sayuri Nitta, played by Zhang Ziyi, and her love of a rich man, played by veteran Watanabe.