Taiwan filmmaker Edward Yang arrives at a 2005 Cannes Film Festival party, in this file photo. The director died of complications from colon cancer on Friday. [File Photo: ent.sina.com.cn]

One of Taiwan's most celebrated filmmakers, Edward Yang, has lost his long battle against colon cancer and died on Friday at his home in Beverly Hills, California, in the United States. He was 59.

According to the Associated Press, Edward Yang died of complications related to his colon cancer.

He had been battling the cancer for seven years.

Born in 1947, Edward Yang studied engineering in the United States before deciding to pursue his childhood dream of directing.

He was best known for combining Western and Chinese elements, and had developed a unique film style of his own.

He was Best Director at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for the film "Yi Yi (A One and a Two)."

Formerly married to veteran folk singer Tsai Chin, Yang is survived by his pianist wife Peng Kaili, a young son and a younger sister.