CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - KWON-TAEK HONOURED AT BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

South Korean film-maker IM KWON-TAEK has been awarded an honorary GOLDEN BEAR at this year's (05) BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cinema.

The 68-year-old has made more than 100 films during a career spanning five decades - many tackling the Korean War and the country's subsequent division.

Festival organisers praise his talent for "remarkable visual beauty, technical innovation, and intellectual depth".

A statement reads: "Although his films vary in style, they all bear his unmistakable stamp: they are forceful and charged cinematographically, as well as reticent, stylised and musical."

Kwon-Taek starting making B-movies in the 1960s before moving on to more serious subject matter. He won the Best Director PALME D'OR at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL in 2002 for CHIHWASEON (PAINTED FIRE).