FACTBOX: Chinese director Zhang takes charge of show

(Reuters) - Internationally acclaimed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou has one of the toughest jobs at the Olympics -- overseeing the opening ceremony and ensuring that the Games get off to a winning start.

Here are some facts about Zhang.

* He is member of China's "Fifth Generation" of directors who began making films after Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. He is best known in the West for his movies "Raise the Red Lantern" (1991) and "House of Flying Daggers" (2004), both of which were nominated for Oscars.

* Born in 1951, Zhang is from Shaanxi province in northwest China. He was a student during the Cultural Revolution and spent time working in the fields before being allowed to go and study at the Beijing Film Academy.

* When he made "Raise the Red Lantern" he was employed by the state-owned Guangxi Film Studio and earned $50 a month.

* Some of his early work ran foul of the Chinese censors, who criticized his portrayals of a backward China and accused him of making films for Western audiences. Their attacks meant he was sometimes unable to travel abroad to promote his work.

* He chaired the Venice Film Festival in 2007 and is a darling of the Lido, where his films scooped four major awards in less than 10 years, making him the festival's top prize winner.

* He used to date Chinese actress Li Gong, who has also starred in many of his films.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

(For more stories visit our multimedia website "Road to Beijing" here; and see our blog at blogs.reuters.com/china)