(ZOU ZHENG)

Chinese director Jia Zhangke was honored as the "director of the decade" by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), together with Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand. They were chosen by a panel of 60 film historians, critics and film archive curators around the world.

Three of Jia's feature films—Platform, Still Life and The World are on a list of the 30 most respected films of the 2000s compiled by the panel, occupying the second, third and 24th spots, respectively.

"Each of Jia's films articulates an abstract structure of time and space, and a more sensual structure of feeling, through which we can see and feel our way to coming to grips with a new, changing world," said TIFF Chairman Piers Handling in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. "He is one of the leading filmmakers in our time."

Jia, who began his career as a movie director in 1997, said that the award shows the Western audience's growing interest in contemporary China and its people.

The 39-year-old Jia is generally considered a leading figure among China's Sixth Generation directors. His Still Life won the coveted Golden Lion at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in 2006. He is shooting the official film of the Shanghai World Expo 2010.