Chinese director Jia Zhangke's new film A Touch of Sin is among the 19 films short-listed for this year's Golden Palm, the top prize of the Cannes Film Festival.

The film is about four people living in different areas of China, whose lives intertwine with one another as they deal with an imperfect life of their own. It stars Jiang Wu, Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Jiayi and Zhao Tao, as well as newcomers Luo Lanshan and Li Meng.

Jia Zhangke has said he made the film with wuxia spirit in mind, although the film is set in modern day.

He says the title is a tribute to A Touch of Zen, a 1971 wuxia film by the late director King Hu. A Touch of Zen was hailed as the first Chinese-language film to gain international recognition.

A Touch of Sin is Jia Zhangke's seventh feature film. He was nominated for Golden Palm in 2008 with 24 City. His film Still Life won the Golden Lion, the highest prize of the Venice Film Festival in 2006.

Other films in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival include Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra, and the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis.

The festival, which is in its 66th edition, will run from May 15 to 26.

(CRIENGLISH.com April 19, 2013)