China Allegedly Bans Jia From Attending Awards

The Chinese government is allegedly the reason behind director Jia Zhangke's decision not to attend the 50th Golden Horse Awards ceremony on Saturday, according to local media reports.

Jia and his actress wife were originally scheduled to attend the ceremony in Taipei, as well as a lecture session on Nov. 20 to meet with audience after a screening of his Golden Horse-nominated crime drama “A Touch of Sin,” but have suddenly decided not to come.

“Because of personal reasons, I cannot attend the Golden Horse lecture originally scheduled in Taipei tomorrow. I would like to express my apologies to the audience,” Jia wrote on his Sina Weibo micro-blogging page on Nov. 19, without elaborating.

Joint Entertainment International Inc., the Taiwan distributor of “A Touch of Sin,” confirmed Saturday that the director will not appear at the ceremony, citing only “personal schedule changes.”

The company told CNA, however, that the film's nominees for Best Cinematography, Best Original Film Score and Best Film Editing will attend the ceremony.

Since Jia canceled his scheduled lecture session in Taipei, local media have speculated that he did so out of pressure from the Chinese government due to the sensitive issue of social injustice and inequality addressed in “A Touch of Sin.”

The film, which garnered six nominations for the Golden Horse Awards, including Best Feature Film and Best Director, centers on four working-class characters in different...