Poetry and burning desire: The films of Lee Chang-Dong

South-Korean director Lee Chang-Dong (whose latest film Burning we're screening from Fri 1 Feb) is one of the most successful and versatile filmmakers working within South-Korean Cinema today, being one of the most prominent forces behind Korean independent cinema, a movement that has enjoyed much critical acclaim around the world since the early 2000s.

Although his name is maybe not as instantly recognisable as some of his fellow reputable South-Korean filmmakers such as Park-Chan Wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) or Bong-Joon Ho (Memories of Murder, Okja), Lee Chang-Dong's body of work is a testament to his craft and masterful direction. His films are suffused with mystery, longing and desire, telling stories of outcasts, torn lovers and South-Korean society as a whole. Since his directing debut Green Fish in 1997, Lee has directed five more films (Peppermint Candy, Oasis, Secret Sunshine, Poetry, and Burning) all garnering positive critical acclaim and prizes on the Festival circuit.

At this year's Cannes, Lee set the Croisette ablaze with his latest film Burning, which scored the highest marks on Screen’s Cannes Jury grid, becoming the highest-scoring title in the grid’s history. Recently, the film made the shortlist of Best Foreign Language film at the 91st Academy Awards, the very first Korean film to do so.

In honour of the release of Burning we invite you to join film writer and Box Office Supervisor Sven De Hondt for an illustrated talk about the career of Lee Chang-Dong that will dive into the mystique and technique of one of the world’s foremost film auteurs.

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