Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke (賈樟柯) is scheduled to visit Taiwan in March, months after the director’s absence from an awards ceremony in Taipei that spurred speculation that Chinese authorities were preventing him from visiting.
Jia and his actress wife, Zhao Tao (趙濤), are set to visit in early March, Joint Entertainment International Inc, the Taiwan distributor of Jia’s film A Touch of Sin, announced yesterday.
The director is scheduled to give a talk at an event organized by the Fubon Art Foundation on March 8. He will use the opportunity to thank everyone for supporting A Touch of Sin, the distributor said.
The company said the trip will make up for Jia’s inability to attend the 50th Golden Horse Awards ceremony in November last year, which it said was caused by schedule changes. It did not mention China.
A Touch of Sin garnered six nominations for the awards show, including Best Feature Film and Best Director. The crime drama picked up the Best Original Film Score and Best Film Editing awards.
The director said “personal reasons” were behind his short-notice cancelation ahead of last year’s awards show. Many drew a connection to the sensitive issue of social injustice that is prevalent in A Touch of Sin, which could have rubbed Chinese authorities the wrong way.
Despite critical acclaim, the film has been seen by few members of the public because it has not been shown in theaters on either side of the Taiwan Strait.
Based on real-life news stories, it explores violence and corruption through the stories of four working-class characters in different parts of China, as they are driven to violent ends in the face of what they see as injustice and exploitation.
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