Ang Lee honored with prestigious Praemium Imperiale award

Taiwan-born film director Ang Lee, renowned for his work on “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Life of Pi” and “Brokeback Mountain,” has been named one of the five recipients of the prestigious Praemium Imperiale award.

The awards ceremony, scheduled for Nov. 19 in Tokyo, will honor Lee, aged 69, alongside other distinguished artists, including Sophie Calle, Doris Salcedo, Shigeru Ban and Maria João Pires. Each recipient will be granted 15 million Japanese Yen ($105,500), a testimonial letter and a medal. The Praemium Imperiale, now in its 35th year, stands as the world’s most esteemed art award, recognizing exceptional contributions in painting, sculpture, architecture, music and theater/film.

Lee, who joins a notable list of previous film sector winners, including Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard and Akira Kurosawa, told the Sankei Shimbun that the recognition was a “great honor,” and that he was “proud that Taiwan could be recognized this way.”