Lee Chang-dong

Infobox Person
name=Lee Chang-dong (이창동)


imagesize = 150px
caption=
birth_date=birth date and age|1954|4|1
birth_place=
death_date=
death_place=

Lee Chang-dong (born April 1, 1954 in Daegu [cite web
url=http://german.imdb.com/name/nm0496969/
title=Chang-dong Lee
publisher=IMDB
accessdate=2007-05-28] ) is a Special Director's Prize and Asian Film Awards winning and Golden Lion, Palme d'Or nominated South Korean film director, screenwriter and novelist. Through 2003-2004, Lee Chang-dong served as South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Life and career

Infobox Korean name
hangul=이창동
hanja=李滄東
rr=I Chang-dong
mr=I Ch'angdongLee graduated in 1980 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. After a spell teaching Korean Language in high school, he established himself as a renowned novelist with his first novel "Chonri" in 1983. Later in his career, to the surprise of many, he turned to movie making.

Lee did not study filmmaking before starting out. He penned two screenplays, Park Kwang-su's "To the Starry Island" in 1993 and "A Single Spark" in 1995. After being encouraged by his contemporaries to finally step behind the directors 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"cite web
url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=191510
title=Director Profile
publisher=NY Times/All Movie Guide
accessdate=2006-10-07] , in 1997.

In 2000, Lee made "Peppermint Candy", a story following a single man in reverse chonology through 20 years of South Korean history (from 1980's student uprising, to the film's 2000 release). All of his films have received critical acclaim and awards, with "Oasis", a story involving a mentally ill man and a woman with cerebral palsy, winning the prestigious Director's Award at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.

He served as the minister of Culture and Tourism in the South Korean Government from 2003 to 2004.

quotation|FC: How did you come to hold government office?
LEE: At the time of President Roh Moo Hyun’s election campaign, one of the things he promised was that his Minister of Culture would be selected from the field of culture and art rather than a professional politician. Well, he got elected, and a lot of people recommended me as this new Minister of Culture. I never thought that this was an outfit that suited me particularly well, but had to accept it as one of those bitter cups one has to accept in the course of life.cite web
url=http://www.firecracker-media.com/interviews/interview1002.shtml
title=Yes, Minister: Lee Chang-dong Interviewed
publisher=Firecracker/UK Film Council
date=10 September 2005
accessdate=2006-10-07]

Lee recently completed production of his fourth film, "Secret Sunshine". At the 60th Cannes Film Festival, the film was entered in the competition category and its leading actress, Jeon Do-yeon, won the "Prix d'interprétation féminine du Festival de Cannes". It was released to theaters in South Korea in 2007, and was South Korea's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008.

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 Deonnedieu de Vabres during an official visit.cite web
url=http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/008034.html
title=Former Culture Minister Lee Honored By French
publisher=KBS Global via Twitch Film
date=29 October 2005
accessdate=2006-10-29]

Filmography

* "Secret Sunshine" (2007)
* "Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox" (2007) *screenplay
* "Oasis" (2002)
* "Peppermint Candy" (2000)
* "Green Fish" (1997)
* "A Single Spark" (1995) *screenplay
* "To the Starry Island" (1993) *screenplay

Awards

* Legion d'Honneur - Jacques Chirac Administration in 2006

Secret Sunshine

* 2008 - Best Film, Asian Film Awards
* 2008 - Best Director, Asian Film Awards
* 2007 - Best Picture, Korean Film Awards
* 2007 - Best Director, Korean Film Awards
* 2007 - Special Award, Grand Bell Awards

=Oasis=

* 2003 - Best Director, Baek Sang Art Awards
* 2003 - Three Castles Award, Castellinaria International Festival of Young Cinema
* 2003 - Audience Award, Gardanne Film Festival
* 2003 - Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award, Vancouver International Film Festival
* 2003 - FIPRESCI Prize, Venice Film Festival
* 2003 - SIGNIS Award, Venice Film Festival
* 2003 - Special Director's Award, Venice Film Festival
* 2003 - Golden Lion (Nominated), Venice Film Festival
* 2005 - Best Foreign Film (Nominated), The Independent Spirit Awards

Peppermint Candy

* 2000 - Special Jury Prize, Bratislava International Film Festival
* 2000 - Best Film, Grand Bell Awards, South Korea
* 2000 - Don Quijote Award, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
* 2000 - Netpac Award - Special Mention, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
* 2000 - Special Prize of the Jury, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Green Fish

* 1997 - Best Film, Blue Dragon Awards
* 1997 - Dragons and Tigers Award, Vancouver International Film Festival
* 1998 - Netpac Award - Special Mention, Rotterdam International Film Festival

A Single Spark

* 1995 - Best Film, Blue Dragon Awards

References and footnotes

ee also

*List of Korea-related topics
*Cinema of Korea

External links

* [http://www.firecracker-media.com/interviews/interview1002.shtml Interview @ Firecracker #10]
* [http://trulyhollywood.com/articles.php?req=read&articleId=475 Nomination for the Gucci Group Award to be presented on September 3, 2007 at Venice's Palazzo Grassi during the 64th Venice Film Festival.]