Ang Lee plans to make movie in Philippines

MANILA (AP) ― Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, who plans to make a movie in the Philippines, said Thursday that independent Asian filmmakers have a better chance these days of finding audiences around the world.

The Taiwan-born director of “Brokeback Mountain” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is in the country as a guest of Taiwan’s de facto embassy, which honored him with a special screening of “Life of Pi.”

Lee told a forum with filmmakers and media that he was inspired by how the world received the movie. He said 85 percent of the film’s income came from outside of America, which used to be the market leader. The movie took four years to make, cost around $130 million and earned Lee his second Academy Award for best director.

“I think that’s good news for all of us,” he said. “You have a chance to make it and find your audience.”

He said for Asian filmmakers who want to make mainstream movies with broad appeal, “nobody makes movies like Americans.” But he urged them to learn the film language of Hollywood, how to deal with it and not be a slave to it.

Lee is visiting the Philippines for the first time. He said he plans to make a movie in Manila, but did not elaborate.

“I hope to get to explore filmmaking further into unknown territory, and one of them certainly is here in Manila,” he added.