The biography and the filmmaking career path of the American auteur Lee Isaac Chung is a bit peculiar. Born to first-generation Korean immigrant parents, he grew up in rural Arkansas, studied ecology at Yale and planned to go to a medical school before giving it up for his filmmaking dream. After a number of shorts realized during his studies at the University of Utah, his shot his first feature “Munyurangabo” (2007) in Rwanda and in Kinyarwanda language (as the first ever narrative feature film). It premiered at Cannes to a great critical reception, signalling a significant talent on the rise. His next two features, “Lucky Life” (2010) and “Abigail Harm” (2012) were more to the typical American indie side, while he went back to Rwanda to co-direct a documentary called “I Have Seen My Last Born” (2015).
For his last one, “Minari”, premiering cum laudae at last year’s Sundance, he went back to his personal history.
For his last one, “Minari”, premiering cum laudae at last year’s Sundance, he went back to his personal history.
- 2/19/2021
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
In a special edition of NBC’s Dateline, veteran newsman Tom Brokaw will open up for the first time on primetime television about his journey battling cancer, and his new memoir, A Lucky Life, Interrupted, which will be released in the U.S. on May 12. Based on that book title, the Dateline episode, airing May 7, is called “Tom Brokaw: A Lucky Life Interrupted.” More from NBC: “From the revelation that he had multiple myeloma in 2013, a treatable but incurable blood cancer, to his doctor visits and treatments, Brokaw chronicles his difficult, and ultimately rewarding, road to remission. Brokaw also details the serious setbacks … Continue reading →
The post Tom Brokaw to discuss his cancer battle on NBC’s “Dateline” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
The post Tom Brokaw to discuss his cancer battle on NBC’s “Dateline” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
- 5/7/2015
- by Jeff Pfeiffer
- ChannelGuideMag
We all require friendship, companionship. In the three films Lee Isaac Chung (known as Isaac) has made, he observes assorted relationships in vastly different milieu: in Munyurangabo (2007), the bustling central market of Kigali, the capitol of Rwanda, and that country’s verdant countryside and poor isolated villages; a beach house smacking of privilege on the southeastern coast of the U.S. in Lucky Life (2010); and, in his latest, the mysterious, inventive Abigail Harm (2013), a large but charmless apartment on a depressing, sparsely populated edge of New York City. The dramatic emphases, however, are less on bonding than on the […]...
- 8/28/2013
- by Howard Feinstein
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Now up on our VOD Calendar are titles available for the month of June.
Some of the highlights: Miguel Arteta‘s Cedar Rapids (see our video interview with Arteta from Sundance), Lee Isaac Chung‘s moving sophmore effort Lucky Life, the Sundance Audience Award winning doc Buck and Michael Winterbottom‘s comedy The Trip.
For titles from previous months go to our VOD Calendar homepage.
Some of the highlights: Miguel Arteta‘s Cedar Rapids (see our video interview with Arteta from Sundance), Lee Isaac Chung‘s moving sophmore effort Lucky Life, the Sundance Audience Award winning doc Buck and Michael Winterbottom‘s comedy The Trip.
For titles from previous months go to our VOD Calendar homepage.
- 6/1/2011
- by Jason Guerrasio
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Maybe American viewing audiences aren’t that interested in being challenged by their films. Or maybe an ambitious indie film – in which the director seems less a storyteller than conveyor of mood – is just not going to click with today’s fast-cut, blow-em-up tentpole-film-preferring audiences. Or, maybe a film like “Lucky Life” is just inert and boring.
The premise sounded ideal for a small, intimate indie film: Four friends, an annual visit to the beach, one friend who is dying with cancer. But Lee Isaac Chung neither leaves it at that (the film continues post-beach get-together interminably through the lives of two young marrieds) nor gives us very much to chew on even during the key early scenes. There’s a student-film feel to the entire project: The overwhelmingly obvious use of blue in nearly every scene, the repeated use of viewing main characters through mirrors or glass, out-of-focus scenes...
The premise sounded ideal for a small, intimate indie film: Four friends, an annual visit to the beach, one friend who is dying with cancer. But Lee Isaac Chung neither leaves it at that (the film continues post-beach get-together interminably through the lives of two young marrieds) nor gives us very much to chew on even during the key early scenes. There’s a student-film feel to the entire project: The overwhelmingly obvious use of blue in nearly every scene, the repeated use of viewing main characters through mirrors or glass, out-of-focus scenes...
- 4/29/2010
- Moving Pictures Magazine
An incredibly confident film in terms of its stylistic decisions, Lucky Life is a serene pleasure to watch. Perhaps one part and one part Hou Hsaio-Hsien and one part Bradley Rust Gray (whose feature The Exploding Girl was at Tff '09), it is nevertheless undeniable that co-writer/director Lee Isaac Chung has a formalist inclination all his own. Before the film's World Premiere screening at the Sva theater Friday night, Chung got onstage to explain that the film's title had been taken from a poem he'd read called 'Lucky Life,' by one Gerald Stern; the poem had served as an inspiration to the filmmaker, and in fact, as he pointed out, Stern was in the audience. Lucky Life is a touching film about four friends - a couple and two individual men - who go down to a beach house they share in North Carolina's Outer Banks. One...
- 4/26/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Spending the day at the beach with a small group of close friends is always a good time. The weather is gorgeous, the sun is bright and the company is priceless. But what happens when another group of close friends invades your personal space? The group is obnoxious, always kicking sand in your face. Sure this is a public beach and they have every right to be here, but do they have to be so rude to you and your friends. You were just trying to enjoy the beautiful day and now you are irritated beyond belief. Well, imagine that experience, not at the beach, but at a movie theater, and that unsavory group of people are not in the theater with you but on the movie screen. Well, that’s how I felt while I was watching the newest film from filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, Lucky Life.
The film follows four friends,...
The film follows four friends,...
- 4/25/2010
- by Rudie Obias
- CriterionCast
During one of many understated scenes in Lee Isaac Chung’s “Lucky Life,” a character expresses the desire for “a chance to slow down a bit more,” and his friend concurs. Such an abstract wish could serve as the tagline for Chung’s meditative, lyrical and yet hauntingly familiar look at the elusive nature of memory among day-to-day experiences. The movie revolves around the weekend getaway of four friends: Jason (Kenyon Adams), Alex ...
- 4/24/2010
- Indiewire
New York -- Alex Gibney took the wraps off his work-in-progress doc about former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Saturday night at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The untitled film, which includes several interviews the filmmaker conducted with Spitzer about midway during A&E Indie Films' two-year production process, offers a largely sympathetic though occasionally critical look at Spitzer's accomplishments -- as well as his downfall and the suspected forces behind it. Allies and enemies, including former New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, also are interviewed.
The project was one of the most warmly received titles available for acquisition during Tribeca's opening weekend. Several films have emerged from under the radar to attract buyer interest, including the polygamy doc "Sons of Perdition," the poetic drama "Lucky Life" and the Vietnamese actioner "Clash."
As is traditionally the case at Tribeca -- and increasingly the case even in hotter markets like Sundance,...
The untitled film, which includes several interviews the filmmaker conducted with Spitzer about midway during A&E Indie Films' two-year production process, offers a largely sympathetic though occasionally critical look at Spitzer's accomplishments -- as well as his downfall and the suspected forces behind it. Allies and enemies, including former New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, also are interviewed.
The project was one of the most warmly received titles available for acquisition during Tribeca's opening weekend. Several films have emerged from under the radar to attract buyer interest, including the polygamy doc "Sons of Perdition," the poetic drama "Lucky Life" and the Vietnamese actioner "Clash."
As is traditionally the case at Tribeca -- and increasingly the case even in hotter markets like Sundance,...
- 4/24/2010
- by By Gregg Goldstein
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Welcome back to our Tribeca 2010 Film Festival preview series. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be featuring a providing trailers and film descriptions, for many of the films that Rudie Obias will be seeing while at the Film Festival. We’ll try to feature smaller, independent films that may not be receiving as much media attention as say, the next Shrek film which also happens to be premiering at Tribeca. Tonight we’re highlighting Lee Isaac Chung’s film, Lucky Life.
Lucky Life will be screening on April 23rd, 28th, and 30th. For complete times and locations, visit the Tribeca Film Festival website. You can also visit the film’s website, or become a fan of the film on Facebook.
Again, be sure to follow Rudie on Twitter, to stay up to date as to what he’s watching, and what it’s like to attend the Tribeca Film Festival.
Lucky Life will be screening on April 23rd, 28th, and 30th. For complete times and locations, visit the Tribeca Film Festival website. You can also visit the film’s website, or become a fan of the film on Facebook.
Again, be sure to follow Rudie on Twitter, to stay up to date as to what he’s watching, and what it’s like to attend the Tribeca Film Festival.
- 4/6/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
While most eyes are on Austin, Texas this week for SXSW, many people on the East Coast eagerly await a closer show as this year’s Tribeca Film Festival kicks off on April 21st. The festival is mainly for indie pictures, rather than the larger, blockbuster films, but is also a great place for up-and-coming directors and writers to showcase their work.
With the festival coming up in just over a month, they are already rolling out this year’s schedule and have announced the first 34 films out of a total of 85 feature length and 47 shorts screening at this year’s fest. Among the titles were those submitted to the World Narrative and Documentary competition, as well as the Showcase and Special Events.
Some of the titles look to be quite intriguing, and could include some of the bigger names of the next decade. Be sure to check out the...
With the festival coming up in just over a month, they are already rolling out this year’s schedule and have announced the first 34 films out of a total of 85 feature length and 47 shorts screening at this year’s fest. Among the titles were those submitted to the World Narrative and Documentary competition, as well as the Showcase and Special Events.
Some of the titles look to be quite intriguing, and could include some of the bigger names of the next decade. Be sure to check out the...
- 3/11/2010
- by Matt Raub
- The Flickcast
9th Annual Festival to Present 85 Feature-Length and 47 Short Film Selections from April 21 – May 2, 2010
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Tribeca Film Festival Virtual and Tribeca Film Boost Festival Reach
New York, NY [March 10, 2010] – The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, the Founding Sponsor of the Festival, today announced the first 34 films to be presented among the 85 feature length and 47 short films at this year’s Festival. The 34 titles include 24 World Narrative and Documentary Competition films, as well as out-of-competition feature film selections in the Showcase and Special Events sections.
The 2010 Tff will take place from April 21 to May 2 in lower Manhattan. The 2010 film selection encompasses feature films from 38 different countries, including 45 World Premieres, 7 International Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, 6 U.S. Premieres and 12 New York Premieres, among which are 7 titles which are part of the fourth annual Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival. 96 directors will be presenting feature works at the Festival, with 38 of these filmmakers presenting...
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Tribeca Film Festival Virtual and Tribeca Film Boost Festival Reach
New York, NY [March 10, 2010] – The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express®, the Founding Sponsor of the Festival, today announced the first 34 films to be presented among the 85 feature length and 47 short films at this year’s Festival. The 34 titles include 24 World Narrative and Documentary Competition films, as well as out-of-competition feature film selections in the Showcase and Special Events sections.
The 2010 Tff will take place from April 21 to May 2 in lower Manhattan. The 2010 film selection encompasses feature films from 38 different countries, including 45 World Premieres, 7 International Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, 6 U.S. Premieres and 12 New York Premieres, among which are 7 titles which are part of the fourth annual Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival. 96 directors will be presenting feature works at the Festival, with 38 of these filmmakers presenting...
- 3/10/2010
- Makingof.com
The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival has announced its scheduled lineup -- and just like its home, New York City, its got a little bit of everything.
The Festival will kick off with the world premiere of DreamWorks' 3D "Shrek Forever After."
But then it launches into a darker realm with documentaries like Alex Gibney's latest. The Oscar-winning director ("Taxi to the Dark Side") will screen his new untitled doc on the former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, who resigned his post in 2008 due to a sex scandal, as a work-in-progress. The film will screen as one of three special events that festival organizers announced Wednesday (Mar. 10).
The Special Events section also includes another work-in-progress screening of "The Western Front." This documentary follows its writer/director and Marine, Zachary Iscol, who returns to his battle site in Iraq's Al Anbar province. David Lean's 1965 classic "Doctor Zhivago" got a make-over for its 45th anniversary,...
The Festival will kick off with the world premiere of DreamWorks' 3D "Shrek Forever After."
But then it launches into a darker realm with documentaries like Alex Gibney's latest. The Oscar-winning director ("Taxi to the Dark Side") will screen his new untitled doc on the former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, who resigned his post in 2008 due to a sex scandal, as a work-in-progress. The film will screen as one of three special events that festival organizers announced Wednesday (Mar. 10).
The Special Events section also includes another work-in-progress screening of "The Western Front." This documentary follows its writer/director and Marine, Zachary Iscol, who returns to his battle site in Iraq's Al Anbar province. David Lean's 1965 classic "Doctor Zhivago" got a make-over for its 45th anniversary,...
- 3/10/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Tribeca International Film Festival announced the first 34 feature films of the 2010 festival slate. “This year’s competition, the core of the Festival, represents contemporary international filmmaking at its finest, bringing together fresh voices with established storytellers. These stories will leave audiences engaged, as well as entertained, which is what our Festival is all about,” said David Kwok, Director of Programming for the Tribeca Film Festival.
Representing 8 countries, this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition will be an international film collection created by many first- and second-time directors. 7 of the films here in this section are World Premieres. Road, Movie directed by Dev Benegal will be screened in ‘Showcase’ section of the festival. The lineup is as follows:
World Narrative Feature Competition "Buried Land," directed by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Steven Eastwood, written by Rhodes, Eastwood and Dzenan Medanovic. Set in a war-torn town in Bosnia that attracts tourists visiting ancient pyramids.
Representing 8 countries, this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition will be an international film collection created by many first- and second-time directors. 7 of the films here in this section are World Premieres. Road, Movie directed by Dev Benegal will be screened in ‘Showcase’ section of the festival. The lineup is as follows:
World Narrative Feature Competition "Buried Land," directed by Geoffrey Alan Rhodes and Steven Eastwood, written by Rhodes, Eastwood and Dzenan Medanovic. Set in a war-torn town in Bosnia that attracts tourists visiting ancient pyramids.
- 3/10/2010
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Alex Gibney's latest documentary, a portrait of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned his post in 2008 because of a sex scandal, will be spotlighted at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, which runs from April 21 to May 2 in New York.
The currently untitled film from the director of the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side," will screen as a work-in-progress as one of three special events that festival organizers unveiled today.
"I think people will be really surprised," said David Kwok, the festival's director of programming. "It doesn't just focus on the scandal. It's more comprehensive than that, looking at Eliot Spitzer as a person and at his entire career."
Also playing in the fest's Special Events section are David Lean's 1965 epic "Doctor Zhivago," marking its 45th anniversary with a new restoration that will be released by Warner Home Video, and a work-in-progress screening of the doc "The Western Front,...
The currently untitled film from the director of the Oscar-winning "Taxi to the Dark Side," will screen as a work-in-progress as one of three special events that festival organizers unveiled today.
"I think people will be really surprised," said David Kwok, the festival's director of programming. "It doesn't just focus on the scandal. It's more comprehensive than that, looking at Eliot Spitzer as a person and at his entire career."
Also playing in the fest's Special Events section are David Lean's 1965 epic "Doctor Zhivago," marking its 45th anniversary with a new restoration that will be released by Warner Home Video, and a work-in-progress screening of the doc "The Western Front,...
- 3/10/2010
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- I think Film Movement's company motto should be "no excellent film gets left behind". I've repeatedly missed out Lee Isaac Chung's debut film on the festival circuit, but it looks like FM have given a second life to the debut of a promising new director (Chung was fittingly nominated for the Indie Spirit's Someone to Watch Award). The company is looking at a May release. Munyurangabo accomplished one of those rare triple crown feats: it started its festival life at Cannes, made its way to Tiff and landed in Berlin. The story commences with the stealing a machete from a market in Kigali, Munyurangabo and his friend, Sangwa, leave the city on a journey tied to their pasts. Munyurangabo wants justice for his parents who were killed in the genocide, and Sangwa wants to visit the home he deserted years ago. Though they plan to visit Sangwa's home for just a few hours,
- 3/2/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
- The very young, and so far, extremely successful Cannes Atelier program (now in its 4th year) has announced the 15 projects as part of the 2008 curriculum that basically invites directors and their producers to pitch their projects, find financing and/or find distribution to world investors in film the film festival dates. This year's batch includes plenty of first time film projects from short film directors who've canvased the festival circuit but the list also two familiar names with the 6th film project from Lou Ye's (Summer Palace) and the sophomore feature (Lucky Life) from Lee Isaac Chung - perhaps 2007's best new director with Munyurangabo (Liberation Day) making waves on the circuit. Here are the selected projects: Australia – Cure For Serpents by Ben Hackworth (2nd feature film)China – Bitch by Lou Ye (6th feature film)Colombia – The Stoplight Society by Ruben Mendoza (1st feature film)Estonia – One More Croissant
- 3/31/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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