Talk about martial arts fight choreography and you’re talking about Yuen Woo-Ping. That’s why Fantastic Fest is giving him a lifetime achievement award.

Not only will Master Yuen attend this year’s festival, but two of his films will be shown: His 1978 directorial debut Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, and a gala screening of his latest epic, True Legend.

There’s no doubt about Yuen’s unfathomably huge impact on martial arts cinema. From Jackie Chan in Drunken Master to Donnie Yen in Iron Monkey, Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Jet Li in Danny the Dog, Stephen Chow in Kung Fu Hustle, and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, he has molded and guided some of the greatest on-screen fighters and fights. His visit to Austin will be his first ever appearance at a US film festival.

Fantastic Fest co-founder Tim League said, “We are thrilled to have a filmmaker of Mr. Yuen’s incredible talent and filmography attend our festival to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award. A large part of our programming at Fantastic Fest is devoted to a genre of which Mr. Yuen represents the pinnacle of quality.”

Fantastic Fest 2010 runs Sept. 23-30. True Legend will receive its US gala premiere at the Paramount Theater on Saturday, Sept. 25. Tickets for it and the other gala shows announced so far (Let Me In, Buried and Stone) go on sale via the Fantastic Fest website on Wed., Sept. 8 at noon Central.

For more on Fantastic Fest 2010, follow our blog coverage here.

This article appears in August 27 • 2010.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.