text: helen lee ( director ) helen lee ( korean : ; born circa 1965 ) is a korean - canadian film director . born in seoul , south korea , she emigrated to canada at the age of four and grew up in scarborough , ontario . interested in film at a young age , she took film studies at the university of toronto and , later , new york university . while in university she was influenced by gender and minority theories , as reflected in her first film , the short sally 's beauty spot ( 1990 ) . while continuing her studies she produced two more films before taking a five - year hiatus to live in korea beginning in 1995 . after her return , she released another short film and her feature film debut , the art of woo ( 2001 ) . she continues to produce short films , although at a reduced rate . lee 's films often deal with gender and racial issues , reflecting the state of east asians in modern society ; a common theme in her work is sexuality , with several films featuring interracial relationships . early life helen lee was born in seoul , south korea , around 1965 , but came to canada when she was four , a year after her parents . she was raised in scarborough , ontario , having moved there in the mid - 1970s . as a child , she became interested in black - and - white films from the golden age of hollywood . she later wrote that the 1960 film the world of suzie wong spoke to her racial identity as an asian canadian , an experience she found to have influenced her filmmaking ; excerpts from the film were included in her first short . lee began her tertiary studies at the university of western ontario , taking business , before transferring to the university of toronto ; there she majored in english literature and film studies . by 1989 she was attending new york university ( nyu ) , studying under homi k. bhabha , faye ginsburg , and mick taussig , with a scholarship . during this period she was influenced by trinh t. minh - ha 's paradigms on women and ethnicity , as expressed in the 1989 book woman , native , other : writing and feminism ; these were later expressed in lee 's first film . she later described minh - ha as at one point being her " ultimate role model " . early film career lee made sally 's beauty spot , a 12 - minute long short film focusing on a mole on her sister 's right breast , for a film editing class at nyu in 1990 . for the film she used a second - hand bolex camera and edited it with a steenbeck editing suite . she later recalled that she recorded the film while in her pyjamas . the production cost a total of $ 4 , 000 . fellow canadian filmmaker david weaver described it as sexualizing sally 's body , something that lee had not intended . the film was first screened at the festival of festivals in toronto . after graduation , lee spent time as a curator at the whitney museum of american art before returning to canada . in 1992 lee made the forty - minute long film my niagara , which featured scenes shot in japan that were reminiscent of home movies ; the effect was obtained by filming in super 8 kodachrome , then transferring it to 16 mm film . filmed in etobicoke , ontario , at the childhood home of co - writer kerri sakamoto , the film detailed a young asian - canadian woman living alone with her father after the death of her mother . scenes were also shot at the r. c. harris water treatment plant in toronto . duran in writes that the film , which had a budget of $ 80 , 000 , had a theme of cultural displacement , and lee states that my niagara was well received . that year she also released the three - minute to sir with love . after my niagara , lee took a position as a director observer on the set of atom egoyan 's exotica , while led her to enrol with the canadian film centre ( cfc ) . meanwhile , she worked as a film and music critic for now and extensively wrote about films for other publications . she took further studies at the banff centre for the arts in banff , alberta , before returning to the cfc as a director residency . she continued to be involved with the american company women make movies , a distributor of feminist media , which she had become involved with while at nyu . in 1995 lee released the 26 - minute long prey , starring adam beach and sandra oh ; she described the film as a " cross - cultural comedy " . the film , which followed a young korean woman who falls in love with a drifter , was a collaboration with cameron bailey and dealt with themes of racial differences , immigration , and social class . the canadian film critic and experimental filmmaker mike hoolboom compared the themes to those of the 1989 hollywood film do the right thing , writing that had short films been respected it would have been a watershed mark . that year she also released the three - minute m. philip . she then took a five - year hiatus , which she spent in korea . post korea in 2000 lee released the 22 - minute short subrosa , following a woman 's search for her mother in seoul . intended as a prequel for an undeveloped film entitled priceless , the film was shot in several formats with a fifteen - person crew , hurriedly recording scenes in public locations . it extensively used character - centred shots , leading to what lee described as an organic understanding of the character . it also featured on - screen sexual intercourse , framed in a medium shot , which lee intended as a sign and not simply a sex scene . although priceless , meant as a sequel to subrosa , went through more than thirty drafts , it was ultimately cancelled despite interest from alliance atlantis and citytv . anita lee , co - producer of priceless , then suggested that helen lee make the art of woo , a romantic comedy sponsored by the canadian film centre ; it was lee 's feature film debut . starring adam beach and sook yin lee , the film followed a korean - canadian art dealer who finds herself interested in a native artist but considers him unworthy as he is poor . released in 2001 , the film was " slashed " by critics . for example , jonathan crow , writing for the corporation , found the film " less fun and less accomplished than a third grade theater production " . however , its soundtrack – by ron sexsmith and kurt – won a genie award for best achievement in music – original song . that year she also released the three - minute star . after the art of woo , lee announced that intended to adapt kerri sakamoto 's novel the electrical field and a " romantic thriller " . however , neither film has yet been released . in 2002 she showed the video installation at the biennale in germany . she married around 2008 , and that same year released the short hers at last , about the interactions of two women in korea . the short was premiered at the seoul international women 's film festival as part of an omnibus entitled ten ten , in celebration of the festival 's tenth anniversary . the omnibus also featured works by fellow directors byun young - and lee su - yeon . themes race , gender issues , and racial identity often feature in lee 's works . the main characters , up through the art of woo , are asian women that are " caught up in some cross cultural encounter " . she writes that she attempts to address these issues through her films in non - didactic ways , such that the " racial melancholia ... are like seepages in the more obvious dramatic or comedic content " . she contrasts her films with the 1993 drama the joy luck club , which she considers a film with obvious , easily consumable , ethnic content . she considers the stereotype of asian women as , either demure " lotus blossoms " or vociferous " dragon ladies " , to be a degenerative one which is " sometimes extremely offensive " , but one that has " a cultural memory that demands [ the viewer 's ] attention . " lee 's works often include elements of sexuality in their characterizations . she writes that the main characters of my niagara and subrosa reach a greater understanding of themselves and their relationships after sexual encounters . she considers sex as " never the culmination or end point " , but a signifier for intimacy . as such , she feels that the more intimate aspects of sex are best conveyed wordlessly , through how it is presented , although she concedes that " talky sex " can be appropriate for romantic comedies . filmography all of the below are short films unless noted . sally 's beauty spot ( 1990 ) my niagara ( 1992 ) prey ( 1995 ) subrosa ( 2000 ) the art of woo ( 2001 ; feature film debut ) hers at last ( 2008 )