Lee Kyoung-mi

Lee Kyoung-mi was born in Seoul. She initially aspired to be a theater actor, but her father, a theater director, strongly opposed her pursuing a degree in theater and film. Despite her wishes, she discovered he had applied to the Russian language department for her university admission, a field growing in popularity due to burgeoning diplomatic relations with Russia. After enrolling, she briefly explored theater classes but withdrew, finding that continuing theater in a collegiate setting prevented her from moving past the disappointment of not entering a theater program. Consequently, she focused on Russian studies, eventually earning a degree from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.^[1]

After graduating, Lee worked for three years in a company unrelated to film, where she experienced sexual harassment from her superior.^[2] During this challenging period, she joined an online movie club and learned about the Film Academy. She subsequently resigned from her job. In 2004, she enrolled in the School of Film, TV & Multimedia at the Korea National University of Arts. She had initially applied to the Film Academy hoping to transfer to a theater department, as it did not require the CSAT or practical skills unlike other programs. She admitted her naiveté during the entrance exam, not even knowing what a storyboard was at the time.^[1]

Her interest to filmmaking began after she saw The Big Blue, watching it five times after a church screening. Prior to this, her only film experiences were Happiness Is Not in Grades and The Peacock King. She debut as director with short film Audition in 2003. Her graduation project, the short film Feel Good Story, which depicts an employee tasked with corporate tax evasion, received several awards on the film festival circuit in 2004.^[1][3][4]

Lee Kyung-mi began her career as an assistant director and scripter on Park Chan-wook's 2005 film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. The two met at the 3rd Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival, where Park was a judge and Lee won the grand prize for her short film Feel Good Story [ko].^[2]

Lee made her feature directorial debut with Crush and Blush (2008), a black comedy about an obsessive teacher and an outcast student who bond over their shared misanthropy; a critic called it "one of those rare films from an up-and-coming auteur that shows both guts and playfulness."^[5] It was the first film to be produced by Park Chan-wook.^[6] Crush and Blush premiered at the 13th Busan International Film Festival,^[7] and was released in theaters on October 16, 2008. Lee won Best New Director and Best Screenplay at the Blue Dragon Film Awards in 2008.^[8]

Lee also made special appearances in films directed by Ryoo Seung-wan, such as The Unjust (2010), and The Berlin File (2013).^[9][10]

Lee second feature film was the mystery thriller film The Truth Beneath, released on June 23, 2016. She co-wrote the script with Park Chan-wook and Jeong Seo-kyeong, and the film stars Son Ye-jin and Kim Joo-hyuk.^[11][12][13] For her direction of The Truth Beneath, Lee received the Best Director award at the 36th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, and Best Screenplay at both the 17th Women in Film Korea Festival and the 22nd Chunsa Film Awards. The film also won the Audience Award at the 11th Festival du Film Coréen à Paris (FFCP).^[14] Lee was also nominated for Best Director and Best New Director at the 25th Buil Film Awards, and for the Grand Prix at the 31st Fribourg International Film Festival, all in 2016.^[15] In the same year, Lee was honored with the Gender Equality Culture Person of the Year Award.^[16]

In 2018, Lee published an essay collection titled Are You Well? Anything.^[2] On December 19, 2018, Netflix announced its plans to produce a six-part adaptation of Chung Serang's 2015 award-winning novel, School Nurse Ahn Eun-young, with Lee directing. Chung Serang co-wrote the series with Lee.^[17][18] Produced for Netflix by KeyEast^[19] and starring Jung Yu-mi and Nam Joo-hyuk, series The School Nurse Files premiered on Netflix on September 25, 2020.^[20]

In 2019, Lee was one of four directors to contribute to Persona, an anthology series released globally on Netflix in April. The series, produced by Mystic Entertainment, stars Lee Ji-eun (IU) in four distinct roles, each interpreted through the unique vision of a different director. Lee directed "Love Set," a short film within the anthology that depicts an intense tennis match between two women, showcasing her distinctive storytelling style alongside works from Yim Pil-sung, Jeon Go-woon, and Kim Jong-kwan.^[21]

Lee's most recent work is Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice, a film based on Donald E. Westlake's horror novel The Ax. Lee acted as scriptwriter, adapting the novel with Park, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee. The film was produced by Park and Back Jisun from Moho Film, and Michèle Ray Gavras and Alexandre Gavras from KG Productions. Miky Lee of CJ Group served as executive producer, with CJ ENM financing the project.^[22] No Other Choice will have its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it is nominated for the Golden Lion.^[23] It is scheduled for a theatrical release in South Korea in September 2025.

In 2018, Lee married Pierce Conran, an Irish-Swiss film journalist and producer who has been based in Seoul since 2012.^[24]