Filmmaker Zhang Yimou returns for Olympics opening ceremony

BEIJING (AP) — Renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou is promising a simpler opening ceremony for next month’s Beijing Winter Games with a bold and unprecedented way of lighting the Olympic flame. Zhang directed an awe-inspiring opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and is returning in the same role for the 2022 Games, Chinese state media reported late Friday. He told the official Xinhua News Agency that his team has come up with a bold idea for the lighting of the flame and the design of the cauldron. Zhang directed three Oscar-nominated films including “Raise the Red Lantern” in 1991.