David Lynch receives Cologne Award

COLOGNE, Germany, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Film director David Lynch received the Cologne Award for his lifetime achievement in the movies at a conference in Germany.

The award ceremony Friday evening was the final event in the two-day Cologne Conference, The Hollywood Reporter said. Lynch said he is working on a film about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The director has practiced transcendental meditation for years.

"I'm not a documentary filmmaker, but I'll give it a try," he said.

He has also been keeping busy with painting and photography and has an exhibition opening in Japan this month.

Lynch, director of "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive," has not made a film since 2006, when "Inland Empire" opened. The movie was a commercial flop and got a mixed reception from critics.

"I'm trying to catch ideas for a film but I don't have the ideas yet," he said.

Next Saturday, Lynch is to receive Germany's Goslar Kaiserring, an award for artistic achievement that has gone to such icons as painter Willem de Kooning.