Taiwanese auteur Ang Lee made history on Feb 8, when he became the first person of Chinese descent to be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Directors Guild of America Awards (DGA) held in Los Angeles, California.
The 70-year-old filmmaker was presented the award by Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, whom he directed in his Oscar-winning wuxia movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
The 62-year-old Malaysian actress uploaded a clip on Instagram of herself posing for photos with Lee at the awards ceremony.
Putting on his glasses to read from a prepared speech, Lee said: “I have received many awards in my career, but this one is the most special to me because it comes from my beloved peers.”
He said he was not a guild member when he was first invited to the DGA awards in 1996, the year he was nominated for directing Sense And Sensibility (1995).
He added: “Born and raised in Taiwan, it feels like a realisation of the American dream to be here on this stage. I am a dreamer at my core. My dreams are not just an individual experience, there is a link through the collective consciousness and unconsciousness.”
Lee was born in Taiwan’s Pingtung county. He is known for Mandarin films such as romantic-comedy The Wedding Banquet (1993), comedy-drama Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) and erotic espionage-drama Lust, Caution (2007).
He got his break in Hollywood through period film Sense And Sensibility, adapted from the Jane Austen novel of the same name.
Since then, he has gone on to nab the Best Director Oscar twice, for the gay romance Brokeback Mountain (2005) and the survival drama Life Of Pi (2012).
Only 37 directors have been given this honour since the guild was founded in 1936. Late Japanese director Akira Kurosawa is the only other Asian recipient. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
