KIM KI-DUK

Biography

Born in Bonghwa, Kim Ki-duk is the most esteemed and well-known Korean director in the West, but at the same time the most controversial and mocked in his homeland. For this reason, Kim always specifies that he prefers to be considered a "director" and not a "Korean director". The film that revealed it was "The Island" which shocked the 2000 Venice Film Festival. His prestige was then consolidated with works such as "Address Unknown" and "Bad Guy", presented in competition at Venice 2001 and Berlin 2002 respectively. His poetics suspended between the concrete and the abstract that lights up with tears of unprecedented violence, often masochistic, and his idiosyncratic way of presenting the man-woman relationship have progressively seduced festival audiences, while simultaneously alienating the Korean press and audience. With over two and a half million dollars in takings, his "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring Again" (2003) became the biggest Korean hit ever in the United States. In 2004 he won both the Silver Bear for Best Director in Berlin with "The Samaritan Woman", and the Silver Lion for Best Director in Venice with "Iron 3". After filming Dream (2008), Kim retired from the stage for three years, before returning to activity with the intimate documentary Arirang, awarded in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes. In 2012 with Pietà he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.