Chinese director Jia Zhangke was presented with the Carrosse d’Or award on May 14 during the opening ceremony of the Directors'Fortnight sidebar at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival.

Carrosse d'Or is a Lifetime Achievement Award created by the Directors'Fortnight sidebar in 2002 and judged by the French directors'society. The prize originated in a 1952 film called The Golden Coach directed by the French filmmaking master Jean Renoir and is dedicated to honor "pure movie talents".

It is the first time that the award has been given to a Chinese director. "I am grateful to the film, it makes me brave, let's go and shoot new movies", Jia said at the award speech.

"I have got a lot of inspirations from French films during my journey of learning filmmaking; the encouragement of this award just came in time. I am 45 years old and have been shooting films for 17 years, I regard this prize as more of an encouragement to my future career than merely a summary for my past work," said Jia.

A screening of Jia Zhangke's 2001 film Platform was arranged prior to the award ceremony. Jia, who is regarded as a representative figure of the "Sixth Generation" of Chinese cinema, has been a regular at the festival. In 2013, his A Touch of Sin won the Cannes's best screenplay, and this year, his Shan He Gu Ren is competing for the top prize Palme d'Or.