NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� the protean filmmaker of and 鈥淏rokeback Mountain,鈥� will receive the Directors Guild of America's lifetime achievement award.
The guild announced Tuesday that Lee, 70, will be given the award at the 77th on Feb. 8. The DGA, which considers the award its highest honor, has given it to 36 filmmakers over its 88-year history. The last director to receive it was Spike Lee in 2022.
鈥淎ng Lee is truly a master filmmaker,鈥� said Lesli Linka Glatter, DGA president, in a statement. 鈥淔or over 30 years, he has directed a dynamic body of work that boldly cuts across genres 鈥� from period drama to comedy, adventure to western, superhero to martial arts 鈥� always fearlessly taking on new challenges, never repeating himself, and consistently achieving cinematic excellence.鈥�
鈥淚 am honored to be recognized in such an incredible way by my beloved guild,鈥� said Lee. 鈥淭o be given the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award is a momentous achievement for me personally, and an opportunity to reflect on what my work has meant to this amazing community of my fellow filmmakers.鈥�
Lee's films also include 1995's 鈥淪ense and Sensibility,鈥� 1997's 鈥淭he Ice Storm," 2003's 鈥淗ulk鈥� and The Taiwan-born filmmaker has twice won the Oscar for best director, for 鈥淏rokeback Mountain鈥� and His last film was 2019's 鈥淕emini Man,鈥� a Will Smith-starring action film
At a recent ceremony in Tokyo where Lee received the Praemium Imperiale Award, he lamented that he hasn't made a movie recently.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 made a movie for six years, and I don鈥檛 know where to start again,鈥� Lee said, . 鈥淐inema needs a drastic change. If we continue down the same path, it will be a dead end. We need something that will make audiences marvel again.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
