Ang Lee of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ honored at MSPIFF 44

Award-winning director Ang Lee spoke to a full house of film enthusiasts April 6, 2025 as he received the Al Milgrom Tribute award at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF.) In a conversation with moderator Dierdre Haj and the audience at De La Salle High School, Lee sprinkled his conversation with humor. The director of “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi,” among other films, Lee has been nominated for Oscars five times and has won twice as best director. Laughter rippled through the crowd as he talked about some of his experiences in filmmaking, how he started and how he feels about film. “Cinema is something that is spiritual,” he noted. One of the films Lee won an Oscar for is Brokeback Mountain, produced by Minnesota’s Bill Pohlad. Lee was the first director of color to win Best Director for the film in 2005.

MSPIFF featured the 25th Anniversary Screening of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and the 20th Anniversary Screening of “Brokeback Mountain” before and after the conversation with Lee