Zhang Yimou, whose Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, and Hero were nominated for Academy Awards, will receive a lifetime achievement award at the next Asian Film Awards ceremony. The awards presentation will take place during the Hong Kong Film Festival in March 2010.
Zhang, 58, has been making movies since the late '80s. His first film, Red Sorghum, starred Gong Li, with whom the director was associated off-screen as well. Among Zhang's other features are The Story of Qiu Ju, To Live, Shanghai Triad, and The Curse of the Golden Flower, all starring Gong; and the epic The House of Flying Daggers, starring Andy Lau and Ziyi Zhang.
Zhang Yimou's latest, The First Gun (aka The Simple Noodle Story), is a remake of Joel and Ethan Coen's Blood Simple. According to reports, it's become a huge box-office hit in China.
Zhang is a brilliant filmmaker. One of the best anywhere in the world.