Ang Lee, the talented filmmaker behind “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain,” will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America. (Also read: Wicked chosen as the best film and Daniel Craig as the best actor by the National Board of Review)
Announcement
Lee, 70, will be presented with the award at the 77th DGA Awards on Feb. 8, the guild announced Tuesday. The DGA, which considers the award its highest honor, has given the award to 36 filmmakers in its 88-year history. The last director to receive this was Spike Lee in 2022.
“Ang Lee is truly a master filmmaker,” DGA President Leslie Linka Glatter said in a statement. “For over 30 years, he has directed a dynamic body of work that boldly cuts across genres – from period drama to comedy, adventure to Western, superhero to martial arts – always fearlessly taking on new challenges , never repeats itself, and consistently achieves cinematic achievement. Excellence.”
“I am honored to be recognized in such an incredible way by our beloved guild,” Lee said. “Being given the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award is a significant accomplishment for me personally, and an opportunity to reflect on what my work means to this wonderful community of my fellow filmmakers.”
More information
Lee’s films also include 1995’s “Sense and Sensibility,” 1997’s “The Ice Storm,” 2003’s “Hulk” and 2012’s “Life of Pi.” The Taiwan-born filmmaker has twice won the best director Oscar for “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi.” His last film was 2019’s “Gemini Man”, an action film starring Will Smith, which was shot at 120 frames per second.
At a recent ceremony in Tokyo where Lee received the Premium Imperial Award, he lamented that he had not made any films recently.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lee said, “I haven’t made a movie in six years and I don’t know where to start again.” “Cinema needs a massive change. If we continue on the same path, it will be a dead end. We need something that surprises the audience again.
