Bruno Bard, chairman of the Deauville Asian Film Festival, said although Jia has been making films for only a decade and has produced only eight feature-length films, his achievements still should be recognized.
"Jia's movie has had a great impact on the international cinema," Bard said. "He deserves to get the prize."
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the festival held a retrospective show of Jia's works. Also, the mayor of Deauville awarded Jia with the town's Urban Prize to honor his cultural contribution to the seaside resort.
The film festival, which focuses exclusively on Asian cinema, has been held annually since 1999. This year's festival runs from March 12-16.
Japan, China and Korea featured strongly among the some 50 shorts and feature-length movies to be shown at the 10th Asian film festival.
The festival, which styles itself a mirror of Asia in Europe, opens with "Beyond the Years", by South Korean director Im Kwon-Taek, who at the age of 71 has made a total of 100 films.
Released last year, it tells of a teenager who flees a demanding but artistic stepfather.
The Japanese contribution honours Joe Hisaishi, who composed the music for some 40 movies, including for directors Takeshi Kitano and Hayao Miyazaki, and actor Koji Yakusho.
For China the spotlight is on Jia Zhangke, one of the new generation of Chinese directors, and the multi-talented actor Jiang Wen, described by Barde as "the Chinese Marlon Brando".
Editor: Feng Hui
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