The ongoing 12th Pusan International Film Festival on Saturday named the late Taiwan director Edward Yang as the filmmaker of the year. It is the first time the award has been given posthumously.

Yang's widow, pianist Kaili Peng, accepted the award with the couple's seven-year-old son, Sean Yang.

Junior Yang produced a traditional ceramic tile of handprints on behalf of his father. The handprints will join those of earlier honorees of the award, including Taiwan leading filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien, and prominent Chinese mainland director Zhang Yimou.

There was a screening of a short video, featuring photos from Yang's earlier days. Present at the event to honor Yang's life and death were the film festival's director Kim Dong-ho, German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, and award-winning Chinese actress Yu Nan.

Edward Yang died on June 29 this year of complications from his long battle against colon cancer. He was 59.

(CRI.cn October 8, 2007)