The biopic, starring Peter O'Toole, which followed the life of Pu Yi- the last of the Emperors of China - was the first and only Italian film to win the Academy Award for best director.

BBC: Bertolucci to lead Venice film festival jury

After Dersu Uzala was Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior), winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or in 1980, and Ran (Chaos, 1985), an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear which won him an Academy Award nomination for best director - a feat almost unheard of for a foreign-language film.

CNN: Kurosawa Akira

The film earned Campion a best director nomination at the Oscars and she won the Academy Award for best original screenplay.

BBC: Jane Campion to be presented with Cannes director honour

The most successful director of all time, at least financially, Steven Spielberg was finally honoured by the Academy in 1994 for a best director award for his film Schindler's List.

BBC: NEWS | Entertainment | Oscars 2003