native_name_lang years_active birth_place citizenship ethnicity native_name birth_date notable_works article_title name occupation alma_mater
ko 1990 -- present seoul , south korea canadian korean-canadian 헬렌 리 1965 '' the art of woo '' helen lee -lrb- director -rrb-
 helen lee film director university of toronto new york university
helen lee -lrb- director -rrb-

helen lee -lrb- ; born circa 1965 -rrb- 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 '' -lrb- 1990 -rrb- .
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 critically panned `` the art of woo '' -lrb- 2001 -rrb- .
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 .
