Film withdrawn from Tokyo festival to debut early

BEIJING - A Chinese film that was pulled out of this year's Tokyo International Film Festival in relation to the ongoing Diaoyu Islands dispute will hit Chinese screens on Friday.

"Feng Shui" will make its debut just ahead of the pre-Lunar New Year film season, which will kick off with the release of director Feng Xiaogang's film "Back to 1942" on November 29.

"Feng Shui" will compete with the 3D version of the US sci-fi disaster film "2012" and Ang Lee's 3D film "Life of Pi."

The former is scheduled to debut on November 20, while the latter is set to hit screens on November 22.

"Feng Shui," which depicts a woman's life after her family moves into a new home, was the only Chinese film nominated in the competitive portion of this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.

Director Wang Jing was invited by festival organizers to attend the event in late October. But the film's distributor Dong Wenjie said in a statement released before the event that the film had been withdrawn from the festival.

"The Japanese government and right-wingers have not shown a sincere attitude regarding the settlement of the (Diaoyu Islands) dispute, which has seriously hurt the Chinese people's feelings," the film's production team said in a statement delivered to the film festival's organizing committee in October.

Japan's government announced its decision on September 10 to "purchase" part of the Diaoyu Islands, resulting in protests in several Chinese cities.