Yang Ik-june

Yang Ik-june (born October 19, 1975) is a South Korean actor and film director. He is best known for the 2009 film Breathless, which he wrote, directed, edited, and starred in.

Career Born in Seoul in 1975, Yang graduated from the Department of Entertainment & Acting at the Kongju Communication Arts College. After discharge from his military service, Yang studied theatre and trained at the Actor's 21 Academy before delving into the film industry. In the next six years he starred in 30 short films, and won the Best Actor award at the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival for the 2005 short film Ooh, You Make Me Sick. In 2005 he directed his first short film, Always Behind You, which earned him the Audience Award at the Seoul Independent Short Film Festival. He also played minor roles in more than ten mainstream films such as Les Formidables, Maundy Thursday, and Viva! Love.

But it was Breathless, his semi-autobiographical feature directorial debut in which he also played the lead role, that catapulted Yang into star director status. Breathless was selected for the Asian Cinema Fund which provided post-production support, and the low-budget film had its world premiere at the 2008 Busan International Film Festival. It proceeded to receive much critical acclaim, winning 23 prizes in the international film festival circuit including a Tiger Award at Rotterdam. Upon its theater release in Korea, the film performed better than expected at the box office with 130,000 admissions, a rare accomplishment for an independent film.

Yang then starred in a supporting role in the 2010 comedy/road movie Looking for My Wife (also known as Runaway from Home). In 2011, he was a voice actor for The King of Pigs, an adult animated film on violence and bullying. He also directed the short films Departure and Immature that same year. Immature was funded by the Jeonju International Film Festival and released as part of the omnibus A Time to Love. Another short film Shibata & Nagao, a comedy inspired by actor's workshops and co-produced with Japan, won the Best Korean Short Film Award at the Asiana International Short Film Festival in 2012. Yang made his television acting debut in the melodrama The Innocent Man, imbuing his supporting role as a small-time thug with an air of menace. In 2013 he was among four celebrities who directed a short film using smartphone Samsung Galaxy S4 with the theme "Meet a Life Companion"; his short Dance Together focused on a Japanese woman who encounters someone new through a cell phone after experiencing the pain of a parting.

Filmography

Television shows Year Title Role Notes 2023 Black: I Saw the Devil Cast memberCrime Thriller Crime Documentary (Season 2)

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work 2005 Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival Best Actor 31st Seoul Independent Film Festival Audience Award 2009 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam VPRO Tiger Award 10th Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival Best Actor 11th Deauville Asian Film Festival Best Film International Critics' Prize 13th Fantasia Festival Best Feature Film Best Male Performance Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema Audience Award (International) 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards High Commendation Fantastic Fest New Wave Award - Best Director Tokyo FILMeX Festival Grand Prize Special Jury Prize 17th Chunsa Film Art Awards Special Jury Prize 18th Buil Film Awards Best New Director 10th Busan Film Critics Awards Best Director 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best New Actor 12th Director's Cut Awards Best Independent Film Director 2010 1st KOFRA (Korea Film Reporters Association) Awards Discovery Award 10th Asiana International Short Film Festival Best Korean Short Film 2018 91st Kinema Junpo Awards Best Supporting Actor 12th Asian Film Awards Best Supporting Actor