Filmmaker Edward Yang Dies at 59

Jul 01, 06:22 PM

Current Headlines: Filmmaker Edward Yang has died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at 59, after a long battle with colon cancer.

Yang, who died Friday, was best known as the figurehead of the new-wave Taiwanese cinema, Variety.com reported.

His best known film, A One and a Zero (Yi yi)," won him the best director prize at Cannes in 2000.

Yang studied film briefly at the University of Southern California before deciding against a career in film. He came back to it after Werner Herzog's Aguirre the Wrath of God.

Yang focused on urban themes, notably in 1996's Mahjong and 1991's A Brighter Summer Day.

Yang was supposed to make the $25 million animated film The Wind, with Jackie Chan this year, but the project was cut short when Yang fell ill.