Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing has once again become the center of controversy after leaving the 2025 Tokyo International Film Festival empty-handed despite his powerful performance in Mother Bhumi.
According to QQ, the festival officially ended on November 5, but heated debates continued over the transparency of the judging process. Fan Bingbing was nominated for Best Actress but ultimately did not win, sparking widespread speculation.
In a pre-award statement posted on social media, Fan Bingbing wrote: “Over the past seven years, I have overcome countless challenges. Life has truly shaped me into a strong woman. I am proud of our entire team for creating such a wonderful film. I love you all!”
However, since her post appeared before the awards ceremony, many netizens suspected that the actress knew the results in advance, suggesting possible internal politics at the festival.
Fan Bingbing was particularly active during the event, attending numerous screenings and red carpet functions to promote Mother Bhumi. Despite his efforts, he did not receive any awards, and reports are now emerging that a Chinese juror may have deliberately blocked his victory.
According to QQ, there were two Chinese jurors at the festival this year: director Wen Yan and actress Gui Lunmei. Insiders say Wen Yan objected to Fan Bingbing’s win, presumably to avoid criticism that both best actor (Wang Chuanjun) and best actress could go to Chinese performers, which would have made the results appear biased.
Even more dramatically, Wen Yan reportedly refused to hand over the prize if Fan Bingbing had won. The reason, insiders say, lies in a personal grudge between the two. In early January 2025, Fan Bingbing was juror at the Berlin International Film Festival, where she did not award Wen Yan’s film The girl who wants to flywith Liu Haocun and Wen Qi. Months later, when their positions reversed, Wen Yan would react by pushing Mother Bhumi out of the picture in Tokyo.
As a result, Chinese media speculate that Fan Bingbing was “retaliation by a fellow juror”. The situation adds to the ongoing protest by actress Bai Baihe, who accused her film crew of mistreatment at the same festival, further deepening doubts about the fairness of this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival.
Actress He Lei also expressed her frustration online, writing: “There are no truly fair rewards in this world.” She claimed that some women had “manipulated” the judging process behind the scenes, claiming that international festivals had lost their artistic purity.
For Fan Bingbing, this marks yet another setback in his long road to career recovery. Since the 2018 tax evasion scandal, she has faced significant barriers in China’s entertainment sector, once her domain as the country’s undisputed “queen of the red carpet.”
Unable to work freely in his homeland, Fan has since sought opportunities abroad, appearing in projects in the United States, South Korea and Europe. His Mother Bhumi the performance was seen as a major comeback attempt and many fans were disappointed to see his efforts go unrecognized in Tokyo.
Fan previously won the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2010 for her acclaimed role in Buddha Mountain making his loss in 2025 even more bittersweet.
Sources: K14
