Min Sook Lee
This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources. (September 2019) |
Min Sook Lee (Korean: 이민숙; born 1969) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and political activist. She was the New Democratic Party candidate for Toronto—Danforth during the 2019 federal election.[1] She ran primarily on concerns about climate change, energy, economic equity, a national pharmacare program, child care programs, improved public transit systems, and the protection and expansion of affordable housing.[2]
Biography[]
Lee was born in South Korea and immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of three,[3][non-primary source needed] growing up in Downtown Toronto, where her family owned a convenience store.[4] Lee and her sisters worked long hours behind the counters, often translating for their parents, who did not speak English.[5][4]
As a teenager, Lee joined the anti-apartheid movement in Toronto, which she credits with introducing her to political activism.[5]
Career[]
Film[]
Lee is a self-taught documentary filmmaker who has directed eight feature documentaries, often focusing on labour, migration, and social justice issues.[6][7]
Early in her career, Lee was news director at community radio station CKLN-FM from 1996 to 1998, and a news reporter at television station Toronto 1 from 2004 to 2005.[8][non-primary source needed]
Lee's first feature film El Contrato (2003) showed migrant farm workers from facing harsh working conditions in Leamington, Ontario. In response, Leamington farmers issued a SLAPP suit which delayed the film's release by a year.[9] Lee was awarded the Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award for the film.[10]
Lee's 2005 film Hogtown: The Politics of Policing followed a dysfunctional City Hall struggle over the Toronto Police Service's budget during a wave of violent gun crimes and police corruption scandals.[11] The film won the Best Feature-length Canadian Documentary award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[12]
Lee also directed Tiger Spirit (2008), telling the story of Korean families divided by the Korean War and the border between North Korea and South Korea; My Toxic Baby (2009), about toxins in baby products; The Real MASH (2010), which tells the story of the real people who inspired the movie and television series, M*A*S*H; Badge of Pride (2010) about LGBT police officers; and The Real Inglorious Bastards (2012), about Frederick Mayer and his company of European Jewish refugees. Lee was co-creator of the television sitcom She's the Mayor, which aired on VisionTV.[13][14] Tiger Spirit was awarded the Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary at the 2009 Gemini Awards.[citation needed] Her film, The Real Inglorious Bastards, won the 2014 Canadian Screen Award for Best History or Biography Documentary Program or Series.[15]
In 2016, Lee revisited the theme of migrant workers in Canada in her film Migrant Dreams, which examined the plight of a group of mostly Indonesian migrant workers entering Canada through the .[16][10][non-primary source needed] She was awarded the Canadian Hillman Prize which honours journalists whose work identifies important social and economic issues in Canada[1] and the Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Labour Reporting.[3]
In 2012, the named the Min Sook Lee Labour Arts Award in Lee's honour for her contribution to the cause of migrant workers,[15] citing her work to "engage non-arts audiences, and that challenges Eurocentric notions of art".[17][18]
Lee is an associate professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, where her teaching and research focus on the relationship between art and social change.[1] She previously taught documentary filmmaking at Ryerson University's School of Image Arts MFA program.[15][19]
Politics[]
Lee was the New Democratic Party candidate in Toronto-Danforth for the 2019 federal election.[5][3] In her campaign, she committed to bring in a 1% super-wealth tax on households with a net wealth of more than $20 million. The Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated that this measure could bring in $70 billion in new revenue.[20][non-primary source needed] On election night, Lee finished in second with 33.2% of the vote to incumbent Liberal MP Julie Dabrusin.[21]
Awards and honours[]
- 2005 Winner of Best Canadian Feature Length Documentary Award, Hot Docs Festival for Hogtown: the Politics of Policing
- 2007 Recipient of the Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award, presented by the United Farm Workers of America
- 2009 Winner of the Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program for Tiger Spirit
- 2012 Induction of the ‘Min Sook Lee Labour Arts Award’ presented by Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts
- 2014 Winner, Canadian Screen Award – Best History Documentary for The Real Inglorious Bastards
- 2016 Cinema Politica Alanis Obomsawin Award for Commitment to Community and Resistance
- 2017 Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Labour Reporting for Migrant Dreams
- 2017 Canadian Hillman Prize for Journalism for Migrant Dreams
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Project | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001-2002 | Profiles | 12-part TV documentary series | Senior producer (3 episodes), director (3 episodes), field producer (1 episode) |
2003 | El Contrato | Documentary | Director, writer |
2005 | Hogtown: The Politics of Policing | Documentary | Producer, director, writer |
2008 | Tiger Spirit | Documentary | Producer, director, writer |
2010 | Badge of Pride | Documentary | Director, writer |
2010 | The Real M*A*S*H | TV documentary | Director, writer |
2011 | She's the Mayor | Television sitcom series | Co-creator, executive producer (12 episodes), writer (1 episode) |
2012 | The Real Inglorious Bastards | TV documentary | Director, writer |
2016 | Migrant Dreams | Documentary | Producer, director, writer |
Electoral record[]
hide2019 Canadian federal election: Toronto—Danforth | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Liberal | Julie Dabrusin | 27,681 | 47.7 | +5.36 | $75,766 | |||
New Democratic | Min Sook Lee | 19,283 | 33.2 | -6.97 | $102,067 | |||
Conservative | Zia Choudhary | 6,091 | 10.5 | +0.64 | $19,351 | |||
Green | Chris Tolley | 3,761 | 6.5 | +1.79 | ||||
People's | Tara Dos Remedios | 621 | 1.1 | - | $3,633 | |||
Animal Protection | Elizabeth Abbott | 261 | 0.4 | -0.24 | $2,645 | |||
Independent | John Kladitis | 210 | 0.4 | - | $2,953 | |||
Communist | Ivan Byard | 151 | 0.3 | - | ||||
Total valid votes/Expense limit | 58,059 | 100.0 | ||||||
Total rejected ballots | 413 | |||||||
Turnout | 58,472 | 71.9 | ||||||
Eligible voters | 81,283 | |||||||
Liberal hold | Swing | +6.17 | ||||||
Source: Elections Canada[22][23] |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Min Sook Lee". Ontario College of Art and Design. 2017-04-15. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ "Min Sook Lee to run for NDP in Toronto-Danforth in upcoming federal election". Beach Metro Community News. 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "About Min Sook Lee". voteminsook.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Jetelina, Margaret (February 9, 2017). "Immigrant Women of Inspiration 2017: the creative journeys of five female artists". Canadian Immigrant. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Shackleton, Alan (11 June 2019). "Min Sook Lee to run for NDP in Toronto-Danforth in upcoming federal election". Beach Metro Community News.
- ^ "Min Sook Lee Wins CP's 2016 Alanis Obomsawin Award". Cinema Politica. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Jacobs, Jonas (May 1, 2016). "POV Profile: Min Sook Lee – Point of View Magazine". Point of View.
- ^ Min Sook Lee on LinkedIn
- ^ Russo, Madelaine (21 October 2016). "Min Sook Lee and Lisa Valencia-Svensson on the Exploitation of Foreign Workers and the Need for Diverse Perspectives in Doc Filmmaking". HotDocs.ca.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Min Sook Lee". Cinema Politica. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Hogtown: The Politics of Policing". HotDocs.ca. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Hogtown: The Politics of Policing at IMDb
- ^ "She's the Mayor Website". Retrieved 2011-09-18.
- ^ "She's the Mayor finds laughs in Hamilton". Hamilton Spectator. April 16, 2010. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Min Sook Lee". Canadian Film Centre. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ McLaughlin, Janet. "How Migrant Dreams reveals the dark side of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program". TVO. TVOntario.
- ^ "2019 Mayworks Labour Arts Awards Call for Nominations". Mayworks. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019.
- ^ Manek, Haseena (10 December 2012). "Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts: Recognition where it is overdue". Story Board. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "FCADers Nominated for Canadian Screen Awards". Ryerson University. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019.
- ^ "Min Sook Lee For Toronto—Danforth". Canada's NDP. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- ^ Canada, Elections. "Election Night Results - Electoral Districts". enr.elections.ca. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- 1969 births
- Living people
- Canadian documentary film producers
- Canadian documentary film directors
- Canadian television producers
- OCAD University faculty
- Canadian television directors
- Canadian screenwriters
- Film directors from Toronto
- Writers from Toronto
- Canadian Film Centre alumni
- South Korean emigrants to Canada
- Canadian writers of Asian descent
- National Film Board of Canada people
- Canadian Screen Award winners