Helen Lee (director) facts for kids

Helen Lee (Korean: 헬렌 리) is a talented Korean-Canadian film director. She was born in Seoul, South Korea. When she was four years old, she moved to Canada with her family. She grew up in Scarborough, Ontario.

Helen Lee became interested in films at a young age. She studied film at the University of Toronto and New York University. Her films often explore important topics like gender and race. Many of her movies feature relationships between people from different backgrounds.

Early Life and Education

Helen Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, around 1965. She moved to Canada when she was four years old. Her family settled in Scarborough, Ontario. As a child, she loved watching old black-and-white films. These were from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

One film, The World of Suzie Wong (1960), was very important to her. It helped her think about her own identity as an Asian Canadian. This experience later influenced her filmmaking.

Helen Lee first studied at the University of Western Ontario. She took art and business classes there. Later, she moved to the University of Toronto. There, she focused on English literature and film studies. By 1989, she was studying at New York University (NYU). She had a scholarship and learned from famous teachers. During this time, she was inspired by ideas about women and different cultures. These ideas later appeared in her first film.

First Films

In 1990, Helen Lee made her first short film, Sally's Beauty Spot. It was 12 minutes long. She made it for a film editing class at NYU. She used a special old camera and editing tools. The film cost about $4,000 to make. It was first shown at the Festival of Festivals in Toronto. After finishing her studies, Lee returned to Canada.

In 1992, Lee created a 40-minute film called My Niagara. Some scenes were shot in Japan. They looked like old home movies. The film was about a young Asian-Canadian woman. She lived alone with her father after her mother passed away. This film explored themes of feeling out of place in a new culture. It was well-received by audiences. That same year, she also released a short film called To Sir With Love.

After My Niagara, Helen Lee gained more experience in filmmaking. She worked on the set of another director's film. She also attended programs at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). She wrote about films and music for newspapers. She continued to be involved with Women Make Movies. This group helps distribute films made by women.

In 1995, Lee released Prey. This short film was 26 minutes long. It starred actors Adam Beach and Sandra Oh. Helen Lee described it as a "cross-cultural comedy." The film was about a young Korean woman who falls in love with a drifter. It looked at ideas of racial differences and immigration. After Prey, she took a five-year break and lived in Korea.

After Korea

In 2000, Helen Lee released the short film Subrosa. It was 22 minutes long. The film followed a woman searching for her mother in Seoul. It was meant to be a start for a longer film that was never made.

Helen Lee then made her first full-length movie, The Art of Woo. It was a romantic comedy. The film starred Adam Beach and Sook Yin Lee. It was set in Toronto. The story is about an Asian-Canadian art dealer named Alessa Woo. She finds herself living near a talented Indigenous artist. But she thinks he is not good enough because he has no money.

The Art of Woo first showed at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Canada in 2001. The film's music was very popular. It won a Genie Award for Best Original Song. That year, she also released a three-minute short film called Star.

After The Art of Woo, Helen Lee continued to create. In 2008, she released another short film called Hers at Last. This film was about two women living as "outsiders" in Korea. It was shown at the Seoul International Women's Film Festival.

Film Themes

Helen Lee's films often explore important themes. These include race, gender issues, and racial identity. The main characters in her films are usually Asian women. They often experience different cultures mixing together.

Helen Lee tries to show these ideas in her films in a natural way. She wants the audience to understand the feelings of people from different backgrounds. She does this through the story's drama or comedy.

Filmography

All of the below are short films unless noted.

• Sally's Beauty Spot (1990)
• My Niagara (1992)
• Prey (1995)
• Subrosa (2000)
• Helen (2002)
• The Art of Woo (2001; feature film debut)
• Hers at Last (2008)
• Into Such Assembly (2019)