Lee Isaac Chung

Lee Isaac Chung (born October 19, 1978, in Denver, Colorado) is the son of Korean immigrants, who grew up on a farm in Arkansas and then attended Yale University, majoring in ecology. He dropped plans for medical school, studying filmmaking at the University of Utah, earning his MFA in 2004.
Chung’s first film, Munyurangabo, premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to great acclaim. His second film, Lucky Life, was developed at the Cinefondation at the Cannes Film Festival and premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and 2010 Torino Film Festival. His Minari (2020) won a Golden Globe as best film not in the English language. Chung has partnered with local filmmakers in Rwanda to create Almond Tree Films Rwanda, a film production company and academy in Rwanda.