Byun Young-joo

Byun Young-joo graduated with a law degree from Ewha Womans University and did her graduate studies at the Department of Theater and Film at Chung-Ang University. She is a founding member of the women's feminist film collective "Bariteo," which was established in 1989. She worked as a cinematographer on a short film about gender discrimination at work, and a documentary film about childcare in a poor neighborhood. Her first documentary centers on the sex trade in Asia, particularly the sex tourism of Jeju Island. Byun is best known for her trilogy documenting the present and past lives of "comfort women" who were abducted and forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese army in World War II. Byun's efforts have lent a significant push to the women's demands for a formal apology and compensation from the Japanese government. At the same time, the films have drawn praise for their aesthetic and emotional power. For her feature film debut, Byun adapted the Korean novel "A Special Day That Comes Only Once in My Life" by Jeon Gyeong-rin into the erotic drama Ardor (2002), about the reinvigorating effects of an affair on a woman's previously disenchanting life. She then produced the documentary Koryu: Southern Women, South Korea (2001), which deals with feminine modes of expression and existence in both pre-modern and modern Korea, to construct a complex and multiple portrait of women's lives as diasporic, or "koryu": temporary living in an alien land - women living in man's land. Her sophomore feature effort Flying Boys (2004) is a coming-of-age romance that also portrays the struggles of the lower classes and sexual minorities. Her film Helpless (2012) is based on the Japanese novel All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe, which pivots around a young woman who suddenly disappears just a few weeks before her wedding, but also talks about contemporary problems such as private loans, bankruptcy and credit rating. Byun won Best Director at the 2012 Baeksang Arts Awards and Women in Film Korea Awards, and at 2.4 million tickets sold, Helpless is her biggest box-office hit yet.