Ang Lee crown 'Brokeback,' boost Oscar hopes
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-30 09:07

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The maker of "Brokeback Mountain," Taiwan-born Ang Lee, was Saturday named best director by Hollywood's top filmmaking union, boosting his already-stellar Oscar prospects.

Oscar statuettes. The maker of "Brokeback Mountain," Taiwan-born Ang Lee, was Saturday named best director by Hollywood's top filmmaking union, boosting his already-stellar Oscar prospects.[AFP]

Lee, 51, repeated his victory at the Golden Globe Awards two weeks ago, walking off with top honours at the influential Directors Guild of America (DGA) awards for his acclaimed gay cowboy love story.

Lee beat out three-time DGA winner Steven Spielberg, who was nominated this year for "Munich," George Clooney, up for "Good Night, and Good Luck," Paul Haggis who was nominated for "Crash" and Bennett Miller for "Capote".

Winning the DGA feature film directing award bodes well for Oscars night, with 51 of the 57 past directors' guild award winners going on to win the Academy Award for best director, according to the union.

However, Lee won the DGA award for outstanding directorial achievement for his 2000 epic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but failed to win the best director Oscar which instead went to Steven Soderbergh for "Traffic".

The DGA awards were handed in Los Angeles less than three days ahead of the unveiling of the 2006 Oscar nominations, which pundits expect will be dominated by "Brokeback Mountain," the clear leader in the Oscars race.

Also honoured at the awards was legendary director and screen star Clint Eastwood, who received the guild's highest tribute -- it lifetime achievement award.

Past recipients of the special award include Martin Scorcese, Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford.

Eastwood, 75, won both the DGA award and an Oscar last year for directing "Million Dollar Baby."

This year, "Brokeback" has won the Golden Globe for best drama, best director and best screenplay, as well as the top honours at last week's Producers Guild of America Awards.

It has also received several influential critics awards and is seen a favourite for Sunday's crucial Screen Actors' Guild Awards, where it is up for best ensemble cast, best actor for Heath Ledger, best supporting actor for Jake Gyllenhaal and best supporting actress for Michelle Williams.

Clooney had been seen as serious competition for Lee in the DGA awards for his story of US newsman Edward Murrow's fight for press freedom during Senator Joseph McCarthy's 1950s-era "communist witch-hunt."

Spielberg earned his nomination for "Munich", which tells of the aftermath of the 1972 Olympic Games massacre of Israeli athletes, while Miller was up for his biopic about US author Truman Capote's writing of his novel "In Cold Blood".

Haggis directed the racially-charged drama "Crash," a crime thriller about several people whose lives and different racial backgrounds collide in one incident.

Nominations for the 78th annual Academy Awards will be announced in Beverly Hills on January 31. Academy Award-winning US actress Mira Sorvino will help announce nominees for the 2006 Oscars.

And voters of the Academy will begin viewing films nominated for the top awards staring February 4 at a series of screenings to be held in Los Angeles as well as in London, New York and San Francisco.

The golden statuettes will be handed out at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre at 5:00 pm (0100 GMT) on March 5, and the red carpet extravaganza will be aired from 4:00 pm.