Hong Kong designer Yee Chung Man failed to receive the Oscar for Best Costume Design for his work on Curse of Golden Flowers in the Academy Awards.

Melina Canonero, costume designer of Marie Antoinette, won the award and said when receiving the award she was so surprised she hadn't even prepared the speech, Sina.com reported.

The Curse earned 270 million yuan (US$34.6 million) at the Chinese box office in the first two weeks after its release.

Though the costumes of the movie received mixed comments on Chinese mainland, people still had high hopes for an award for this nominated Chinese movie in the Oscars.

Moreover, because Yee's work recently received top awards at the prestigious Costume Designers Guild Awards and the Art Directors Guild Awards in the United States, the chance of its winning the Oscar seemed be rising as the jury panel is almost the same.

The Curse and another Chinese film, Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet, failed to be nominated as the best foreign-language films.

Yee headed for the United States alone on Saturday to attend the ceremony, while director Zhang Yimou and producer Zhang Weiping were unable to accompany him.

The 79th Academy Awards presentation ceremony began this morning Beijing time in Los Angeles.
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(CRI.cn February 27, 2007)