Byun Young-joo, a pioneering figure in Korean cinema, embarked on a remarkable journey after graduating with a law degree from Ewha Womans University and furthering her studies at the Department of Theater and Film at Chung-Ang University.
In 1989, she co-founded the women's feminist film collective "Bariteo," which paved the way for her to work as a cinematographer on a short film highlighting gender discrimination in the workplace and a documentary exploring childcare in a poor neighborhood.
Byun's most notable achievement is her trilogy documenting the lives of "comfort women" who were forcibly conscripted into sexual servitude by the Japanese army during World War II. Her films have not only shed light on this dark chapter in history but have also garnered international acclaim for their aesthetic and emotional power, lending momentum to the women's demands for a formal apology and compensation from the Japanese government.
Byun's feature film debut, Ardor (2002),adapted the Korean novel "A Special Day That Comes Only Once in My Life" by Jeon Gyeong-rin, and explored the reinvigorating effects of an affair on a woman's life. This was followed by the documentary Koryu: Southern Women, South Korea (2001),which delved into feminine modes of expression and existence in both pre-modern and modern Korea, constructing a complex and multifaceted portrait of women's lives as diasporic.
Her sophomore feature effort, Flying Boys (2004),was a coming-of-age romance that also tackled the struggles of the lower classes and sexual minorities. Byun's subsequent film, Helpless (2012),was based on the Japanese novel All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe and explored themes of private loans, bankruptcy, and credit rating, as well as the story of a young woman who suddenly disappears just before her wedding.
Byun's outstanding direction earned her the Best Director award at the 2012 Baeksang Arts Awards and Women in Film Korea Awards, and Helpless became her biggest box-office hit to date, selling over 2.4 million tickets worldwide.
