Im Kwon-taek
Im in 2013
Born	(1934-12-08)December 8, 1934 (age 90) Jangseong County,Zenranan Prefecture,Korea, Empire of Japan
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Chae Ryeong ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	2, includingKwon Hyun-sang
Honours	Legion of Honour - Knight (2007)
Korean name
Hangul	임권택
Hanja	林權澤
RR	Im Gwontaek
MR	Im Kwŏnt'aek

Im Kwon-taek (Korean: 임권택; born December 8, 1934) is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards, as well as considerable box-office success, and helped bring international attention to the Korean film industry. As of spring 2015, he has directed 102 films.

Im Kwon-taek was born inJangseong,Zenranan Prefecture,Korea, Empire of Japan, and grew up inGwangju. After theKorean War, he moved toBusan in search of work. He then moved toSeoul in 1956, whereJeong Chang-hwa, director ofFive Fingers of Death (1972), offered him room and board for work as a production assistant. Jeong recommended him for directing in1961.

Im's directorial premiere was with the1962 film,Farewell to the Duman River (Dumanganga jal itgeola).

Before 1980, he was known primarily as a commercial filmmaker who could efficiently direct as many as eight genre pictures a year, helping to fulfill the quota for domestic pictures set by the government[1]. His desire to make more artistically satisfying films began to show itself with his1978 filmJokbo (Genealogy orThe Family Tree), but the turning point of his career came with the1981 filmMandala. From this point his films have been regarded asart-house cinema, and have been regularly shown at international film festivals, and have won numerous awards.

Im has continued to explore themes from Korea's past while also focusing on the Korean cultural identity in modern times. Among Im's most notable recent films areSopyonje (1993) andChunhyang (2000), both of which concentrate on the traditional Korean musical art ofpansori. The latter film was also based on a traditional Korean legend. Apart from being a critical success,Sopyonje was also a success at the box office, becoming the first domestic film to draw over a million viewers inSeoul alone.Chihwaseon (2002) was also a critical success, earning him Korea's first Best Director award at theCannes Film Festival.^[1] Im Kwon-taek was awarded anHonorary Golden Bear award at theBerlin Film Festival in 2005.

Im Kwon-taek's status, brought on by the critical success of his films, overlapped with a period of the film movement called "New Korean Cinema" or "Korean New Wave". Along with other directors, such asPark Gwang-su andJang Sun-woo, Im is recognized as one of the founding figures of the movement, which gained international critical recognition and acclaim for Korean Cinema.

In April 2007, Im released his 100th filmBeyond the Years, an informal sequel toSopyonje. In November 2007 the French government announced that it would make Im a knight of theFrench Legion of Honor.^[2][1]

In 2013, a museum dedicated to Im opened in Busan, on theDongseo University Centum City Campus.^[3]

A documentary on Im,Cloud, Encore (2018) by well-known film critic-turned-directorJung Sung-il, made its world premiere at the23rd Busan International Film Festival in 2018.^[4][5]

He married the actress (Chae Ryeong [ko]), who appeared in several of his films.^[6] Their two sons Im Dong-joon and Im Dong-jae (a.k.a.Kwon Hyun-sang) are also active in the film industry.^[7]

• Cinema of Korea
• List of Korean film directors

• Legion of Honour
• List of Legion of Honour recipients by name (I)
• Legion of Honour Museum

Wikimedia Commons has media related toIm Kwon-taek.

• Beech, Hannah (3 June 2002)."The Unbearable Sadness of Being Korean".Time. Archived fromthe original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved17 November 2007.
• Page about the Korean New Wave at asianinfo.org
• Biography and interview at cinekorea.com
• Crow, Jonathan."Im Kwon-Taek: Biography".Allmovie. Retrieved3 November 2007.^{[permanent dead link]}
• Im Kwon-taek atIMDb
• Interview: Reflection In A Mirror atasianfilms.org
• James, David E.; Kim Kyung-hyun, eds. (2002).Im Kwon-Taek: The Making of a Korean National Cinema. Detroit:Wayne State University Press.ISBN 0-8143-2869-5.
• Lee, Young-il (1988).The History of Korean Cinema. Motion Picture Promotion Corporation.ISBN 89-88095-12-X., p. 342-343.
• (in Korean)Naver Cast - Im Kwon-taek
• (in Korean)Doosan Encyclopedia - Im Kwon-taek

• Best Director for Grand Bell Awards winners
• 1936 births
• Knights of the Legion of Honour
• Living people
• South Korean film directors
• People from Jangseong County
• Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners
• Honorary Golden Bear recipients
• Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts
• Best Director Paeksang Arts Award (film) winners

• CS1 uses Korean-language script (ko)
• CS1 Korean-language sources (ko)
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from November 2017
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Korean-language text
• Articles with hCards
• Pages using infobox person with deprecated parameters
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Articles with dead external links from December 2017
• Articles with Korean-language sources (ko)