Award-winning and legendary Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk died from Covid-19 complications in Latvia, the country’s media have reported.
Famous for his art-house cinematic works, 59 year old Kim Ki-duk’s films like ‘Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring’, ‘Pieta’, ‘Samaritan Girl’, ‘3-Iron’ and ‘Arirang’ have received several distinctions in the festival circuit, making him one of the most important contemporary Asian film directors.
Duk won major festival awards including Golden Lion at 69th Venice International Film Festival for Pietà, Silver Lion for Best Director at 61st Venice International Film Festival for 3-Iron, Silver bear for Best Director at 54th Berlin International Film Festival for Samaria and Un Certain Regard prize at 2011 Cannes Film Festival for Arirang.
Two of his films served as official submissions for Academy award for best foreign language film as South Korean entries. He has given scripts to several of his former assistant directors including Juhn Jai-hong (Beautiful and Poongsan) and Jang Hoon (Rough Cut).
Kim Ki-duk was born on December 20, 1960 in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. He studied fine arts in Paris from 1990 to 1993. After returning to South Korea, Kim began his career as a screenwriter and won the first prize in a scenario contest held by Korean Film Council in 1995. In the following year, Kim made his debut as a director with a low budget movie titled Crocodile (1996).
He also has a following in India, especially in Kerala, where his films have been frequently screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala
