Im Kwon-Taek – master of  Korean New Wave

          Im Kwon-Taek's films, overlapped with a period of the film movement called "Korean New Wave". Along with other directors, such as Park Gwang-su and Jang Sun-woo, Im is recognized as one of the founding figures of the movement, which gained international critical recognition and acclaim for Korea.

               He created films that were uniquely Korean, exploring the country’s history and traditional culture. The movies that followed were not often great box-office successes, but they consistently earned critical praise. These included Chokpo (1978; The Genealogy), a historical drama that dealt with the Japanese occupation of Korea; Pul ŭi ttal (1983; Daughter of the Flames), which portrayed the shamanistic folk (1993; Sopyonje), about a family of p’ansori (folk opera) singers; and the Korean War epic T’aebaek sanmaek (1994; “The T’aebaek Mountains”).

      He has been considered Korea's leading director. His films have won every possible prize in Korea's three annual film awards ceremonies, and a growing number of international 

festival prizes too. His film Sopyonje (1993) is the most honoured Korean film ever made.

   In April 2007, Im released his 100th film Beyond the Years, an informal sequel to Sopyonje. He won 27 domestic and three international prizes In November 2007 the French government announced that it would make Im a knight of the French Legion of Honor.

           In 2013, a museum dedictated to Im opened in Busan, on the Dongseo University Centum City Campus.

          Im dropped out of middle school after his father’s death. He eventually found work as a production assistant for a film company in Seoul. In 1962 he made his directorial debut with Tumgang a chal ikkŏra(“Farewell to the Duman River”). Over the next 10 years Im turned out some 50 movies, most of them B-movies such as 1971; Revenge of Two Sons; also known in English, as  'The Two Revengeful Hunchbacks'.

     Chihwaseon (2002) was also a critical success, earning him

Koreas first Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. Im Kwon-taek has awarded an honorary Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2005. The winnings of 27 domestic and three international prizes were also an enormous success in the Korean market.

          He married the actress Chae Ryeong, who appeared in several of his films.