The cream of Asian acting talent is among more than 100 nominees up for prizes at the 41st annual Golden Horse Film Awards Saturday in the central city of Taichung, but nominees Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi are just two of a raft of big-name stars who will be absent from the event.

Hong Kong heart-throb Andy Lau, tipped by industry watchers to win best actor, tops the list of stars who will tread the red carpet, while leading French director Olivier Assayas -- whose film "Clean" won the best actress award for his ex-wife Maggie Cheung at Cannes this year -- is also attending.

About half the nominees will be missing from the showcase event due to their hectic shooting schedules ahead of the busy Chinese New Year film programme, Wang Ching-hua, chairman of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, said Friday.

But Wang said he was more concerned by the threat of having the red carpet reception -- the so-called Star Boulevard -- washed out by a typhoon.

"It is quite common that the more popular stars are absent as they might be busier making movies during this time of year. However, we are more concerned about the coming typhoon that might jeopardize the Star Boulevard event," Wang told AFP.

"If the storm hits really hard ... or dumps too much rain, then we will have to cancel the Star Boulevard," he said.

Taiwan's weather bureau early Friday urged people to take precautions against floods and landslides as the typhoon approached.

The Golden Horse Film Awards -- which has categories modelled after the Academy Awards but whose winners are selected by a jury along the lines of the more independent-minded Cannes film festival -- showcases cinematic talent from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Singapore.

Lau -- who missed out on the best actor award last year after being nominated for "Internal Affairs I" -- has been given another nod for his role "Internal Affairs 3", but faces stiff competition from fellow Hong Kong actors Leung ("2046") and Jacky Cheung ("Golden Chicken II") as well as Duobuji from China ("Kekexili: Mountain Patrol.")

Internationally-acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, whose "2046" leads the field with eight nominations -- although surprisingly not in the best director category -- will be absent along with leading stars of the film Zhang and Leung.

A spokeswoman for Wong's Jet Tone films has denied the stars are snubbing the event over Wong's exclusion form the best director list, although she said they were "puzzled" by his omission.

The nominees for best director include three from Hong Kong -- Fruit Chan ("Three... Extremes: Dumplings"), Johnnie To ("Breaking News") and Yee ("One Nite in Mongkok") -- as well as China's Lu Chuan ("Kekexili: Mountain Patrol").

But "2046" is still favourite to win best film over "Breaking News", "One Nite in Mongkok", "Kekexili" and Taiwan's "The Moon Also Rises".

Noted Taiwanese model Lin Chih-ling and famous television host Keven Tsai will host the event, which will be televised live, at which 21 awards will be handed out.

Taiwan's two Athens' Olympics medallists in taekwondo, noted Chinese-American violinist Chen Mae and the young Taiwanese singing group "5566" will be guest performers at the ceremony.

Chu Mu-yen, who won the silver medal in lightweight taekwondo, and Chen Shih-hsin, who took gold in the women's lightweight division, will perform a dance mixed with martial arts.

Chen Mae is scheduled to play a number of electric violin that has never been played before, Wang said.

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