Min Sook Lee facts for kids

Min Sook Lee (Korean: 이민숙; born in 1969) is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, teacher, and activist. She is known for making documentary films that explore important social issues.

Early Life and Activism

Min Sook Lee was born in South Korea. When she was three years old, her family moved to Canada. She grew up in downtown Toronto, where her family owned a convenience store. Min Sook and her sisters often helped out in the store. They also helped their parents by translating, as her parents did not speak English.

As a teenager, Min Sook Lee joined the anti-apartheid movement in Toronto. This movement worked to end unfair racial separation in South Africa. She says this experience helped her become interested in political activism.

Film Career

Min Sook Lee is a self-taught documentary filmmaker. This means she learned how to make films on her own. She has directed eight full-length documentaries. Her films often focus on topics like work, people moving to new countries, and fairness in society.

Early in her career, Min Sook Lee worked in radio and television. She was a news director at a community radio station from 1996 to 1998. She also worked as a news reporter at a TV station from 2004 to 2005.

Her first major film was El Contrato (2003). This film showed the difficult working conditions faced by migrant farm workers from Central Mexico in Leamington, Ontario. Because of the film, some farmers tried to stop its release with a legal challenge. The film was delayed for a year. Min Sook Lee received the Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award for this film. It was also nominated for a Donald Brittain Award in 2005.

In 2005, she directed Hogtown: The Politics of Policing. This film looked at the struggles over the Toronto Police Service's budget. It also covered a time when there were many gun crimes and police scandals. The film won the Best Canadian Feature Documentary award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Her 2008 film Tiger Spirit told the stories of Korean families. These families were separated by the Korean War and the border between North Korea and South Korea. This film won the Donald Brittain Award in 2009.

Min Sook Lee has directed several other documentaries. These include My Toxic Baby (2009), which was about harmful chemicals in baby products. The Real MASH (2010) shared the true stories of people who inspired the famous TV show M*A*S*H. Badge of Pride (2010) was about LGBT police officers. The Real Inglorious Bastards (2012) told the story of Frederick Mayer and his group of European Jewish refugees during World War II. The Real Inglorious Bastards won a Canadian Screen Award in 2014. Min Sook Lee was also nominated for Best Direction for this film.

She also helped create the TV comedy show She's the Mayor, which aired on VisionTV.

In 2016, Min Sook Lee made another film about migrant workers in Canada called Migrant Dreams. This film showed the challenges faced by mostly Indonesian workers who came to Canada through a special program. She won the Canadian Hillman Prize for this film. This award honors journalists who highlight important social issues in Canada. She also won the Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Labour Reporting.

In 2012, an award was named in her honor: the Min Sook Lee Labour Arts Award. This award recognizes people who use art to help migrant workers and connect with different audiences.

Min Sook Lee is a professor at OCAD University. There, she teaches and researches how art can lead to social change. She also leads the faculty union at OCAD University. Before this, she taught filmmaking at Ryerson University.

Filmography

Political Activity

Min Sook Lee was a candidate for the New Democratic Party in the Toronto—Danforth area during the 2019 federal election.

During her campaign, she promised to introduce a "super-wealth tax." This would be a small tax (one percent) on very rich households. Experts estimated this tax could bring in a lot of money for the government.

On election night, Min Sook Lee came in second place. She received 33.2 percent of the votes.