The 48-year-old auteur, who this week becomes the first Chinese filmmaker to open the Cannes film festival with "My Blueberry Nights," his debut English-language work, has won praise for his visual style and sensual art films as well as a clutch of international awards.

Wong was the first Chinese director to head the jury at last year's Cannes festival and the first to win the best director award there in 1997 for "Happy Together", the tale of a strained relationship between two Chinese gay lovers living in Buenos Aires.