TAIPEI (AFP) - THE cream of Asian cinema is set to gather in Taipei on Saturday for the Golden Horse Film Awards, considered the Chinese-language 'Oscars'.

Famed Taiwan directors Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao-hsien will join Hong Kong peers Johnnie To and Stanley Kwan to present the best director award at tonight's gala ceremony.

However, another top Hong Hong film-maker, John Woo, reportedly will shun the event after his blockbuster war epic 'Red Cliff II' was snubbed by the Golden Horse nomination committee.

'It's disappointing and regrettable. The actors and the crew did very well and worked really hard... I didn't understand what standard the judges used,' he told reporters in Taipei earlier this week.

Chinese actor Zhang Hanyu and last year's best actor winner also voiced bewilderment at the judges' decisions. 'I was hoping for a best actor nomination for 'The Message'. I didn't know what happened,' said Zhang, who is instead up for the best supporting actor for the lesser known 'The Equation of Love and Death'.

Hit espionage thriller 'The Message' received five nods, including a surprise double nomination in the best leading actress category for Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing of China. Other nominees including Li, director Clara Law and heart-throb actor Daniel Wu of Hong Kong, as well as Taiwanese director Leon Dai, are expected to walk down the red carpet in a suburban Taipei auditorium.

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