A CHINESE movie director has been detained for allegedly disrupting public order after he was involved in an altercation at an airport, police in Northwest China’s Qinghai Province confirmed Wednesday.

    Award-winning director Pema Tseden is in police custody after he “trespassed” into an off-limits area at Caojiapu Airport in Xining on Saturday, the public security bureau at the airport said in a statement.

    The director, who arrived in Xining at around 8:15 p.m., had been looking for his luggage after he forgot to pick it up after arrival, the document said.

    After being told to leave by a security staff, he was handcuffed by the airport police. He sustained bruises from the handcuffs, according to his accompanying friends at the airport.

    He was given a five-day detention for disturbing public order under the security administration punishment act, the police said.

    On Monday, the director felt dizzy and complained of tightness in his chest. The police took him to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with high blood pressure and blood sugar levels. He was briefly hospitalized. The police said Pema Tseden would complete his detention after recovery.

    The detention and interrogation were both recorded on audio and video devices, police said.

    The director’s detention came as a surprise to those familiar to him. “He is always friendly and nice,” said Hao Jian with the Beijing Film Academy, where Pema Tseden studied. “He never even talks loudly.”

    Pema Tseden, born in 1969, is from Qinghai Province. He is renowned for his movies in the Tibetan dialect. Last year, he won the best adapted screenplay award at the Golden Horse Awards for his film “Tharlo.” Last month, he was a member of the jury at the Shanghai international film festival.

    China’s film directors guild issued a statement Wednesday, saying the police may have overacted and urging the police to publicize details of the case as soon as possible.(Xinhua)