Director Seo Jeong-mi’s The Lee Families (2023) Is Admitted to the 76^th Cannes Film Festival

The Lee Families (2023), a graduation film by director Seo Jeong-mi (28 years old), received an official invitation to La Cinef of the 76^th Cannes Film Festival, where the graduation films from across the world compete for the prize. Established in 1998, the foundation celebrates its 24^th anniversary. This year, 16 works among over 2,000 entries were shortlisted for the prize. The School of Film, TV & Multimedia of K-Arts has received 9 invitations, the outstanding number of all film schools around the world.

In The Lee Families (2023), a country house, the grandfather’s only inheritance, was bequeathed to the eldest grandson who has no memory or affection at all for the place, merely for following the patriarchal tradition based on the Confucian belief. The rest of the Lees, however, decide to together build and inherit the intangible values – special moments and memories – of the family in a new house instead. Through their story, director Seo questions the validity of submitting to the outdated patriarchal system.

Earlier in her career, with So Young’s Film (2019), director Seo Jeong-mi was nominated for Best Short Film at the 40^th Blue Dragon Film Awards. With The Granddaughter (2021), also, Seo earned the Korean Competition Excellence Award at the 14^th Seoul International Senior Film Festival, continuously demonstrating her competence in filmmaking as a director while studying for the Bachelor’s Degree in K-Arts.