Latest Work
There are no words
My film, THERE ARE NO WORDS, explores how Cold War militarism enters the home, shaping memory, family, and the histories that echo across generations.
More than 40 years ago, my mother died by suicide. I was 12 years old. The family I grew up in was marked by violence. My father served in South Korea’s Korean Counter Intelligence Corps (KCIC), part of the military apparatus that protected dictatorial state power. Through this film, I examine fractured memory, inherited secrecy, and the ways political histories reverberate through our most intimate relationships.
My mother’s death was followed by shame and erasure. I came to understand that if I did not make this film, a default narrative would prevail—one that would flatten the complexity of her life and foreclose other ways of remembering. This documentary became an act of witnessing, and a refusal to let silence have the final word.
About Min Sook Lee
Min Sook Lee is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her filmography includes Tiger Spirit a reunification road-trip through the two Koreas (Donald Brittain Gemini Award Winner), Hogtown: The Politics of Policing (Hot Docs Award for Best Canadian Feature) and The Real Inglorious Bastards (Canadian Screen Award for Best History Documentary). Migrant Dreams, which follows migrant farm workers resisting exploitation, received the Canadian Hillman Prize for excellence in journalism in service of the common good and the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Award for Best Labour Reporting. Her most recent feature, There Are No Words premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (Honourable Mention for Best Canadian Feature). The film also garnered the award for Best Documentary at the Toronto International Reel Asian Film Festival.
Based in Toronto, Min Sook is an Associate Professor at OCAD University where she also serves as the President of her faculty association, OCADFA.
Photo Credit: Kelly Lui