Lee Yoon-ki

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Yoon-ki (Korean: 이윤기; born 1965), is a South Korean film director and screenwriter.

Lee Yoon-ki
Born	1965 (age 58–59) Daejeon, South Korea
Education	University of Southern California - MA in Business Administration/Economics
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter
Korean name
Hangul	이윤기
Revised Romanization	I Yun-gi
McCune–Reischauer	I Yun'gi

Career

Lee Yoon-ki earned his MA in business administration/economics at the University of Southern California. After returning to Korea, he worked as a producer and director of several short films. His first feature, This Charming Girl, attracted much attention from major film festivals, including Sundance and Berlin. His second feature, Love Talk, was invited to compete at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and his third and fourth features, Ad-lib Night and My Dear Enemy were both critically acclaimed.^[1]

Since his debut, Lee has emerged as one of Korea's leading sources of small-budgeted, intimate dramas about ordinary people. He is particularly skilled at inhabiting the worlds of female characters, and he has worked with a range of impressive up and coming actresses including Kim Ji-soo, Han Hyo-joo and Im Soo-jung, and most importantly Korea's top actress Jeon Do-yeon.^[2] Though Lee empathizes with women marginalized by a patriarchal society, he refuses to exploit easy cultural signifiers to arouse audience sympathy. The characters also remain rather elusive amidst Lee's always-atmospheric images. But if his films are refreshingly unsentimental, their imagery is also refreshingly evocative, more romantic than realist.^[3]

He considers Hou Hsiao-hsien as his film mentor. Other influences are Robert Altman’s earlier works, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and other American independent films from the 70s and 80s, including the Coen brothers’ Blood Simple.^[4] His favorite artist is Edward Hopper.^[5]

Filmography

• This Charming Girl (여자, 정혜), 2004
• Love Talk (러브토크), 2005
• Ad-lib Night (아주 특별한 손님), 2006
• My Dear Enemy (멋진 하루), 2008^[5][6]
• Come Rain, Come Shine (사랑한다, 사랑하지 않는다), 2011^[4][7][8]
• A Man and a Woman (남과 여), 2016
• One Day (어느날), 2017

Awards and nominations

This Charming Girl

• NETPAC Award - 2005, Berlin International Film Festival
• New Currents Award - 2005, Pusan International Film Festival
• Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema (Dramatic) - 2005, Sundance Film Festival

Love Talk

• Crystal Globe - 2005, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Nominated)

References

1. "My Dear Enemy: Director's Statement". Finecut. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
2. Paquet, Darcy. "My Dear Enemy". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
3. Clorfein, Jason (3 January 2010). "The Films of Lee Yoon-ki". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
4. Park, Soo-mee (14 February 2011). "Q&A: 'Come Rain Come Shine' Director Lee Yoon-ki (Berlin)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
5. "My Dear Enemy's Director Lee Yoon-ki". The Diva Review. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
6. "Are You "My Dear Enemy"". Korean Beacon. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 14 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
7. Kwon, Mee-yoo (21 January 2011). "Come Rain invited to Berlinale". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
8. "Director Lee defends pace of Berlin’s sole Asian entry". The Korea Herald. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-19.

External links

• Lee Yoon-ki at the Korean Movie Database
• Lee Yoon-ki at IMDb
• Lee Yoon-ki at HanCinema