KIM KI-DUK was born on December 20, 1960 in Bonghwa ( Northern Kyongsang Province ). In 1990, he traveled to Paris and spent two years selling paintings on the street. It was in Paris , where he found a renewed interest in cinema, and later returned to Korea to pursue a career as a screenwriter. In 1993, his screenplay, A Painter and a Criminal Condemned to Death , received the top award from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting. His success followed in 1994 with a third-place finish for Double Exposure and a first-place award for Jaywalking in 1995 at the KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Screenplay Competition.
In 1996, KIM made his directorial debut with a low-budget film called Crocodile . The film stirred up a sensational response from the critics upon its release. Since then, his films have been hailed and criticized by both critics and audiences for their hard-to-express characters, shocking and violent visuals, and unprecedented messages. His films have also been heavily criticized, especially by feminist critics, for his violent depictions of women. Some have labeled KIM as an ¡°animal,¡± ¡°beast,¡± ¡°psychopath,¡± and even a ¡°sexual terrorist.¡± Despite such harsh criticism, KIM was able to portray the innocence deeply embedded in the characters' hearts.
While KIM has been ostracized by his own country, his films found niche audiences outside of Korea , especially in Europe , and gained recognition at international film festival circuits. His breakthrough came when his fifth film, The Isle (2000), was selected to screen in competition at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival. As his films were invited to various international film festivals, the general audience also began showing some interest in his films. His film Bad Guy (2002) enjoyed box-office success when it drew over 700,000 audiences into local theaters, expanding his limited popularity one step further to the mainstream.
Today, KIM Ki-Duk continues to make internationally acclaimed films such as Samaritan Girl (2004) and 3-Iron (2004), which won the Silver Bear Award (Best Director Award) at the 54 th Berlin International Film Festival and the Leone d'Argento Award (Special Award for Best Direction) at the 61 st Venice International Film Festival, respectively.
