December 11, 2024: Acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee will be honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the 77th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards on February 8, 2025. Lee, the Academy Award-winning director behind cinematic masterpieces such as Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi, will become the 37th filmmaker to receive this distinguished recognition.
The news was announced via the official DGA social media channels, and the award, presented by the DGA president and past presidents, acknowledges an individual’s exceptional contributions to cinema. Lesli Linka Glatter, the current president of the DGA, lauded Lee as “truly a master filmmaker,” noting his remarkable and diverse body of work, which spans genres including period drama, comedy, superhero epics, and martial arts. Glatter emphasized Lee’s ability to consistently challenge himself and push creative boundaries, citing his fearless exploration of complex characters and unforgettable stories.
“For over 30 years, he has consistently challenged himself, never repeating himself, and always achieving cinematic excellence,” Glatter said. “Through his films, Ang invites his audiences to explore complex characters that linger in your heart and mind long after the screen has gone dark.”
Lee’s career, which began in the early 1990s with films like The Wedding Banquet, gained worldwide acclaim with hits such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, and Life of Pi—the latter earning him an Academy Award for Best Director. A member of the DGA since 1996, Lee has been nominated for the DGA Award for Feature Film multiple times, winning in 2000 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and again in 2005 for Brokeback Mountain.
In 2018, the DGA also honored Lee with a special recognition for his contributions to American culture through his work in film and television. Reflecting on this upcoming award, Lee expressed his gratitude: “I am honored to be recognized in such an incredible way by my beloved Guild. To 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.”
The DGA Lifetime Achievement Award, first presented to Cecil B. DeMille in 1953, has since been awarded to a number of legendary directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and, most recently, Spike Lee. This honor celebrates directors who have made extraordinary contributions to the art of filmmaking, and Lee is a fitting recipient of this recognition.
