Director Zhang Yimou and the Beijing ceremonies

We first interviewed Zhang Yimou, the director behind the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in 2006 for the movie Curse of The Golden Flower. Zhang Yimou is credited with discovering Gong Li and Ziyi Zhang, eventually having relationships with both women, at different times of course. At that time, Yimou was excited to start working with Chinese director Zhang Jigang and American director Steven Spielberg for the high profile ceremonies. Spielberg dropped out in February 2008, criticizing the Chinese government for not pressuring ally Sudan to end the “continuing human suffering” in the region. The budget for the ceremonies has still not been disclosed but it is widely speculated that it's the most expensive opening ceremony of all time.