Director Jia Zhangke of the Chinese film in competition, "Ash is Purest White", poses during a photocall of the 71st Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France on May 12, 2018.(Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese director Jia Zhangke will appear at the West Coast Premiere of his latest film Ash is Purest White at 4th China Onscreen Biennial (COB) scheduled to be held in the United States from Oct. 19 to Dec. 2.

According to the COB's organization, the celebrated Chinese director, who was selected as the Artist-in-Residence of the event, will take part in a series of in-depth public conversations in Los Angeles about his career during a special retrospective screening program.

Besides of Ash is Purest White (2018), Jia's awarded films, including Xiao Wu (1997), Platform (2000), The World (2004), Still Life (2006), and A Touch of Sin (2013) will be shown at the Biennial.

The 48-year-old Jia is generally regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema, a group that also includes such figures as Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Wang Quan'an and Zhang Yuan.

Jia's films have received critical praise and have been recognized internationally, notably winning the Venice Film Festival's top award Golden Lion for Still Life (2006).

The organization also announced Friday that Baby and its director Liu Jie, will show for Closing Night of the Biennial's events in Los Angeles.

Variety, the most important entertainment media in the United States, called the riveting drama, executive produced by world-wide notable director Hou Hsiao-hsien and starring rising Chinese star Yang Mi, "Devastating yet brimming with tender compassion."

Inaugurated in 2012 with founding sponsorship from the UCLA Confucius Institute, COB is a multi-city showcase of Chinese film and media arts for American audiences. The project aims to promote U.S.-China cultural dialogue through the art of the moving image.

This year's COB will kick off in Los Angeles, then travel to Washington D.C. from Nov. 2 to 11 and wrap up on Dec. 2 in New York.