2021
Lee Isaac Chung | Writer and Director
By John Priddy
Lee Isaac Chung is a gifted and insightful storyteller. Chung’s first film, Munyurangabo, premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to great acclaim. Variety called the film “an astonishing and thoroughly masterful debut;” American critic Roger Ebert called it “a beautiful and powerful film – a masterpiece.” His second film, Lucky Life, was developed at the Cinéfondation at the Cannes Film Festival and premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and 2010 Torino Film Festival. His latest film, Minari, is touching hearts as it shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
“In January of 2018, I thought I might not have many chances to make films, because the industry is really difficult,” Chung said. “I decided I should try to make the film I’ve always wanted to make, so I started writing in February of that year.”
Minari is a deeply powerful and lovingly poetic film about what roots us. It follows a Korean-American family that moves to a small Arkansas farm in search of the American Dream. With the arrival of their witty, foul-mouthed but incredibly loving grandmother, the family dynamic shifts in a beautiful way.
Minari had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020, winning both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Minari was theatrically released on February 12, 2021, by A24.
The story in Minari is drawn from Chung’s own life experience as well as universal themes of hardship and hope. A son of Korean immigrants, Chung grew up on a small farm in rural Arkansas and then attended Yale University, studying biology. During his senior year, Chung dropped his plans for medical school and turned to filmmaking. He studied film at the University of Utah, earning his MFA in 2004. In 2007, he partnered with local filmmakers in Rwanda to create Almond Tree Films Rwanda, a successful film production company and academy in Rwanda.
Chung encompasses the spirit of Windrider fully, as he works to tell cross-cultural stories that draw empathy and connection amidst differences. From Munyurangabo to Minari, his unique worldview shines through in each of his projects.
