TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee (李安) received the Directors Guild of America's 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday.
The award was presented by Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊). Lee has earned two Oscars and numerous other film festival awards during his career, per CNA.
According to the DGA, the Lifetime Achieve Award is given to directors of feature films with winners selected by present and past presidents. Lee is now one of 36 directors who have won the award, affirming his status in the international film industry.
In his acceptance speech, Lee said, "Born and raised in Taiwan it feels like a realization of the American dream to be here on this stage. I am a dreamer at my core.” Lee said the award was even more special as it was awarded by his beloved peers.
Looking back on his career, Lee said he experienced many ups and downs, ranging from low-budget to low-tech and high-tech, domestic, international, and different genres. He added that he has had films that were on the 10 best films of the year, but also a film that was on the 10 worst films of the year.
Lee said the award reaffirms his belief, “It is worth it to keep chasing after your dreams. For me, that means continually learning how to make movies. I learned the most by doing, and I hope my career can be a never-ending film school.”
Lee ended by saying, "My dreams are not just an individual experience, there is a link through the collective consciousness and unconscious, between our internal and external universe.” He said filmmaking represents this belief as it is the collaboration and efforts of so many people.
