Green Fish

Returning home after completing his military service, Mak-dong finds a city he no longer recognises. After defending a young woman from harassment on a train, he crosses paths with the criminal underworld and is drawn into a web of violence, desire and shifting loyalties. Green Fish is the first feature-length film directed by Lee Chang-dong.

Digitally restored copy

Duration: 114’
Production year: 1997
Country: KR
Language: KO Subtitles: PT-BR, EN

Upcoming sessions

13:00

São Jorge Cinema

Room 3

Vancouver International Film Festival 1997 – Dragons and Tigers Award
International Film Festival Rotterdam 1998 – Special Mention: Netpac Award

Lee Chang-dong

Born in Daegu in 1954, Lee Chang-dong is one of the most acclaimed South Korean filmmakers and novelists. After beginning his literary career in 1983, he turned to cinema in his forties, working first as a screenwriter and assistant director before making his directorial debut with Green Fish (1997). He went on to direct Peppermint Candy (1999), Oasis (2002), Secret Sunshine (2007), Poetry (2010) and Burning (2018), earning international acclaim and major awards. Oasis won the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice Film Festival, while Secret Sunshine received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for Jeon Do-yeon. From 2003 to 2004, Lee Chang-dong served as South Korea’s Minister of Culture and Tourism. His films explore isolation, desire, grief and social inequality through deeply compassionate portraits of individuals caught in moments of personal and historical upheaval. After an eight-year hiatus, he returned to cinema with Possible Love (2026), presented in Competition at Venice, where it received the Grand Jury Prize.