Lee Sunggang is one of the best-known animators in the Korean industry. Born in 1962, he enjoyed reading books and would explore his imagination through his drawings. His parents weren’t very keen on letting him major in arts, and so it was in psychology that he was admitted at Yeonsei University in 1981. When he resumed his studies after his military service, the pressing social and democratic concerns of the time compelled him to join the Yeonsei campus-based Ganeun Pae ...More

Lee Sunggang is one of the best-known animators in the Korean industry. Born in 1962, he enjoyed reading books and would explore his imagination through his drawings. His parents weren’t very keen on letting him major in arts, and so it was in psychology that he was admitted at Yeonsei University in 1981. When he resumed his studies after his military service, the pressing social and democratic concerns of the time compelled him to join the Yeonsei campus-based Ganeun Pae (“Group on the move”) – one of the collectives that formed the 1980s progressive socially conscious Minjung Art movement – thus starting again to draw. After graduation, he continued his artistic endeavours as part of the Minjung Art Conference, and it was in late 1994 that he first found an interest for animation, after discovering the new possibilities offered by computers. By the next year, he completed his first short animation, <Torso>, in 1995. Recognized for his sensible and lyrical approach to directing, many of his early short films had been shown at prestigious film festivals, such as <Ashes in the Thicket> (1998) at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. He also participated in <Timeless, Bottomless> (1997), producing the animated sequence called <Petty Thief> that was included in Jang Sunwoo’s cult film. His first animated feature, the coming-of-age drama <My Beautiful Girl, Mari> (2002), was the first to make full use of computer animation and received the Grand Prix for best animated feature at the 26th Annecy. In a surprising move, Lee chose to direct a live-action film for his second feature. Despite its high production value, the film, <Texture of Skin> (2005) did not receive as much critical acclaim as his animations. After going back to directing animation with <Yobi, the Five-tailed Fox> (2006), which transposed the world of Korean traditional legends to modern sensibilities, Lee has been acting as a producer on the animation features <Crimson Whale> (2014) and <On The White Planet> (2014). Now collaborating with <TRAIN TO BUSAN> Director Yeon Sangho and his animation production company Studio Dada, Lee directed the feature titles <Kai> (2016) and <Princess Aya> (2019). In 2022, he received the BIAF Honorary Award at the Bucheon International Animation Festival.Less