Jiang Wen poses at the premiere of his film "The Sun Also Rises" in Beijing on Tuesday, September 11, 2007.

Although coming home empty-handed from the Venice International Film Festival, Chinese director and actor Jiang Wen still can't wait to show off his latest romantic feature, "The Sun Also Rises."

On Tuesday, Jiang Wen led cast members in promoting the film's upcoming China release at a premiere ceremony in Beijing.

The film's distributor has pushed up its screening date from September 21 to 14.

Facing a plethora of media questions over the film's failure to win an award in Venice, Jiang Wen showed no signs of disappointment and said the results were not totally surprising.

He said he had no expectations to win an award, but hoped more people could get to see and like his film.

The flick, featuring Zhou Yun, Joan Chen and Jaycee Chan, was in competition for the festival's top prize, the Golden Lion award, which eventually went to another Chinese film, "Lust, Caution," by Ang Lee.

The film did however bring Jiang Wen another kind of joy. While working on the film he fell in love with leading actress Zhou Yun, who later married him and produced the couple's first child.

Cast member Zhou Yun poses at the premiere of the film "The Sun Also Rises" in Beijing on Tuesday, September 11, 2007.

Cast member Jaycee Chan poses at the premiere of the film "The Sun Also Rises" in Beijing on Tuesday, September 11, 2007.

(CRI.cn September 12, 2007)