Lee Chang-dong

Lee Chang-dong (born July 4, 1954) is a South Korean film director, screenwriter, and novelist.

At the 60th Cannes Film Festival, the film was entered in the competition category with lead actress Jeon Do-yeon, winning the Prix d'interprétation féminine.

Burning also won the Fipresci International Critics' Prize at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, Best Foreign Language Film in Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Best Foreign Language Film in Toronto Film Critics Association.

Oasis was selected as Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards.

He graduated in 1981 with a degree in Korean Literature from Kyungpook National University in Daegu, where he spent much of his time in the theater, writing and directing plays.

He went on to teach high school Korean and established himself as a novelist with his first novel Chonri in 1983.

Lee had no formal training in filmmaking.

He was approached by Park Kwang-su to write the screenplay for To the Starry Island. Lee negotiated for an assistant director (AD) position as part of the deal and was promoted to first AD on the first day of the shoot when the original first AD failed to show up.

Burning became the first Korean film to make it to the 91st Academy Awards' final nine-film shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film.

The film was released in 1993.

He went on to write A Single Spark in 1995, which won Best Film at the 1995 Blue Dragon Film Awards.

He has directed six feature films: Green Fish (1997), Peppermint Candy (2000), Oasis (2002), Secret Sunshine (2007), Poetry (2010), and Burning (2018).

After being encouraged by his contemporaries to finally step behind the director's chair, Lee made Green Fish, a "critique of Korean society told through the eyes of a young man who becomes enmeshed in the criminal underworld", in 1997.

Green Fish won Best Film at Blue Dragon Film Awards, Dragons and Tigers Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and had NETPAC Award's Special Mention at Rotterdam International Film Festival.

In 2000, Lee made Peppermint Candy, a story following a single man in reverse chronology through 20 years of South Korean history—from 1980's student uprising, to the film's 2000 release.

Peppermint Candy won Special Jury Prize at Bratislava International Film Festival, and got three awards at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival including Don Quijote Award, Special Jury Prize and NETPAC Award.

The film also won Best Film at Grand Bell Awards.

Lee has won Silver Lion for Best Director and Fipresci International Critics' Prize at the 2002 Venice Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Lee released Oasis in 2002, a story involving a mentally ill man and a woman with cerebral palsy, winning the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.

Lee served as South Korea's Minister of Culture and Tourism from 2003 to 2004.

Lee Chang-dong was born in Daegu, Korea.

The film was awarded Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award at 2003 Vancouver International Film Festival.

It also won 2003 Venice International Film Festival's Special Director's Award, FIPRESCI Prize, and SIGNIS Award.

Lee won Baeksang Arts Awards for Best Director.

From 2003 to 2004, Lee served as the minister of Culture and Tourism in the South Korean Government.

On the political appointment, Lee said:

Oasis was nominated at the 2005 Independent Spirit Awards for Best Foreign Film.

In October 2006, Lee was awarded with the Chevalier (Knight) order of the Legion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor) by the French government for "his contribution to maintaining the screen quota to promote cultural diversity as a cultural minister."

It was delivered to the French embassy in South Korea by the French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres during an official visit.

Lee's fourth film, Secret Sunshine about a grieving mother who loses her son, was completed in 2007.

It was released to theaters in South Korea in 2007, and was South Korea's submission for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008.

Secret Sunshine won Best Feature Film at Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

It won Best Film and Best Director at 2008 Asian Film Awards.

It won Best Picture and Best Director at Korean Film Awards, Best Director at Director's Cut Awards, and Special Award at Grand Bell Awards.

In 2009, Lee was appointed as a jury member of the international competition in 61st Cannes Film Festival along with Isabelle Huppert, Shu Qi and Robin Wright Penn.

The following year, Lee's film Poetry was released.

The film tells a story of a suburban woman in her 60s who begins to develop an interest in poetry while struggling with Alzheimer's disease and her irresponsible grandson.

It garnered positive critical reviews and won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Notably, the film's starring role was played by Yoon Jeong-hee, who was returning to the screen after an absence of 16 years.

He also won the award for Achievement in Directing at the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2017, Jury Grand Prize at the 2018 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best Director and Lifetime Achievement Award at the 13th Asian Film Awards in 2019, and he has been nominated for the Golden Lion and the Palme d'Or.