Takeshi Kaneshiro disqualified from Taiwan film awards

TAIPEI —The organizers of Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Awards on Friday disqualified actor Takeshi Kaneshiro from competing for a special prize recognizing local talent.

Kaneshiro, star of a string of successful Hong Kong movies including the critically acclaimed “Chungking Express” and more recently the epic “The Warlords,” had been nominated as Taiwanese filmmaker of the year.

But organizers of the awards said he was not eligible as he was a Japanese citizen.

“The jury is not sloppy in the nomination process ... although we revoke Mr Kaneshiro’s nomination, we still acknowledge his achievement in Chinese cinema,” they said in a statement defending the move.

Kaneshiro was born to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother and raised in Taiwan, but is a Japanese citizen.

The decision left only two nominees—director We Te-sheng of the hit romance “Cape No. 7” and veteran lighting designer Li Long-yu—vying for the Taiwanese filmmaker of the year award.

The Golden Horse Awards are styled on the U.S. Academy Awards but are decided by a jury along the lines of the Cannes film festival.