Director Biography

Kim Ki-duk, one of the most admired South Korean filmmakers in the world, was born in 1960 in Bonghwa, Kyongsang province, South Korea. After studying arts in Paris, Kim Ki-duk returned to Korea and began his career as a screenwriter. After winning a screenwriting competition in Korea, Kim was able to make, without any formal education, his directorial debut with a low-budget movie, Crocodile, in 1996. Since then, Kim Ki-duk has been hailed by both critics and audiences for his hard-to-express characters, unprecedented messages, shocking visuals and anti-mainstream aesthetic. Birdcage Inn (1998) was the first film to attract international attention, followed by the controversial The Isle in 2000, which shocked audiences at the Sundance and Venice film festivals.

After a series of other intense and highly acclaimed movies such as Address Unknown (2001) and Bad Guy (2002), his works had been selected by international film festivals and his name has grown in value and the general audience started to show some interest. He continued to make internationally acclaimed films such as Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring which was submitted to the Foreign Language Film section of the Academy Awards along with Samaritan Girl which won the Silver Bear Award (Best Director Award) at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival. His next film 3-Iron won the Leone d’Argento Award (Special Award for Best Direction) at the 61st Venice Film Festival.

His self-portrait movie, Arirang, which he wrote, directed and even acted in, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and won the section's top award for best film along with the German film Stopped on Track, directed by Andreas Dresen.

Kim Ki-duk has made sixteen features in the same number of years and become one of the most celebrated directors in the international festival circuit.

Filmography: 

2011    Arirang
2008    Dream
2007    Breath
2006    Time
2005    The Bow
2004    3-Iron
2004    Samaritan Girl
2003    Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… And Spring
2002    The Coast Guard
2002    Bad Guy
2001    Address Unknown
2000    Real Fiction
2000    The Isle
1998    Birdcage Inn
1997    Wild Animals
1996    Crocodile