The lead actress Gong Li in the movie Curse of the Golden Flower.

Hong Kong designer Yee Chung Man headed to the United States alone on Saturday to attend the 79th Academy Awards after receiving an nomination for the costume design on Curse of the Golden Flower. Director Zhang Yimou and producer Zhang Weiping were unable to accompany him.

Yee's work on Curse of the Golden Flower recently received top awards at the prestigious Costume Designers Guild Awards and the Art Directors Guild Awards in the United States.

China Youth Daily reports the movie has a good chance of winning the Best Costume Design Award at the Oscars because many of the members from the Costume Designers Guild are on the jury panel.

The New Pictures distribution company said director Zhang Yimou will not attend the Academy Awards because he is busy working on the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games.

The Curse of the Golden Flower costumes received mixed comments on mainland China, but one Hollywood film critic said the costumes deserve the award because they provided most of the visual enjoyment the audience received from the movie.

More than 40 designers worked on the glamorous costumes worn by the lead actress and actor over two months.

This year's Academy Awards will be presented in Hollywood on 25 February.
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(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2007)