Yoon Ga-eun

In this Korean name, the family name is Yoon.

Yoon Ga-eun (born February 15, 1982) is a South Korean film director and script writer. Her films explore the stories of young children and youth.

Yoon Ga-eun
Born	(1982-02-15) February 15, 1982 (age 43) Seoul, South Korea
Education	Sogang University - History Department Korea National University of Arts Graduate School of Film, TV & Multimedia
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter
Korean name
Hangul	윤가은
Hanja	尹佳恩
RR	Yun Gaeun
MR	Yun Kaŭn

Career

Yoon Ga-eun graduated from the History Department of Sogang University and continued her graduate studies at the School of Film, TV & Multimedia at Korea National University of Arts.

Her first film as a director was a 19-minute short film, The Taste of Salvia, introduced in 2009. Shortly afterwards, she directed several films including Proof (2010), Guest (2011), Sprout (2013), Tabloid Truth (2014) and The World of Us (2015).^[1]

Her first breakthrough film was Guest (2011), a movie perceptively capturing a phase of the growing pains that a pubescent high school girl experiences. This film won the grand prize from the 34th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2012.^[2]

Sprout (2013) is an adventure story of a little girl who has been left alone for the first time. Yoon expressed the small change that a little girl faces through the steps of discoveries. After Yoon finished Sprout, she stated that she thought that people would strive all the time to achieve their goal, but there are things that they cannot achieve, no matter how hard they try. She dissolved the meaningful process into Sprout.^[3]

Yoon is also known for finding new actresses. The Korean actress Jung Yeon-ju started her career with Guest (2011), also Kim Su-an was cast by Yoon. Kim was invited to the Festival de Cannes as the youngest actress ever.^[4]

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Film	Credited as		Notes
		Director	Writer
2013	Tabloid Truth			as Scripter
2016	The World of Us	Yes	Yes
2019	The House of Us [ko]	Yes	Yes
2025	The World of Love	Yes	Yes	[5]

Short films

Year	Film	Credited as
		Director	Writer
2009	The Taste of Salvia	Yes	Yes
2010	Proof	Yes	Yes
2011	Guest (2011 film) [ko]	Yes	Yes
2013	Bean Sprout [ko]	Yes	Yes
2013	100x100 [ko]	Yes	Yes

Accolades

Source:^[6]

• 2016 Berlin International Film Festival - Generation (The World of Us)
• 2016 TIFF Kids International Film Festival - TIFF KIDS (The World of Us)
• 2016 Udine Far East Film Festival - Competition Section - SOUTH KOREA (The World of Us)
• 2016 Toronto Korean Film Festival - Opening Night Feature Presentation (The World of Us)
• 2016 Busan International Film Festival - Korean Cinema Today-Panorama (The World of Us)

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Recipients	Result	Ref.
2011	The 13th Seoul International Youth Film Festival	SIYFF Vision Award	Guest	Won
2011	The 5th Great Short Film Festival	Great Audience Award		Won
		Great Director Award		Won
2012	The 34th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival	international competition		Won
2013	Prague Short Film Festival	Panorama		Won
2013	Flickerfest International Short Film Festival	Competition Section		Won
2013	Busan International Film Festival	Wide Angle: Korean Short Film Competition - Sonje Award Special	Sprout	Won
2014	SEOUL International Women’s Film Festival (2014)	Asian Short Film & Video Competition		Won
2014	Busan International Short Film Festival			Won
2014	Aspen Shortsfest	International Competition		Won
2014	Berlin International Film Festival	Generation - Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film		Won
2016	34th Ale Kino! International Young Audience Film Festival	Golden Goat for Best Feature Film for Children	The World of Us	Won
2016	10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards	Best Youth Feature Film		Won
2016	37th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best New Director		Won
2016	25th Buil Film Awards	Best New Director		Won
		Best Screenplay		Nominated
2016	2016 International Film Festival of India	Country Focus - Republic Of Korea		Country Focus
2016	8th KOFRA Film Awards	Best Independent Film		Won
2016	36th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards	Best New Director		Won
		Top Films of the Year		Won
2016	16th Korea Assembly Grand Awards	Outstanding Film		Won
2016	2016 Tokyo Filmex	Audience Award		Won
		Jury Special Mention		Won
2016	17th Women in Film Korea Festival	Best Director		Won
2016	Shanghai International Film Festival	Panorama (Best Cinematography)		Nominated	[7]
2016	56th Zlín Film Festival	International competition of feature films for children - The Golden Slipper		Won	[8]
2016	4th Wildflower Film Awards	Grand Prize		Won	[9]
		Best Director – Narrative Films		Nominated
		Best New Director – Narrative Films		Nominated
		Best Screenplay		Nominated
2016	16th National Assembly of Korea Awards	Film (Arts) Category		Won
2016	53rd Baeksang Arts Awards[10][11]	Best New Director		Nominated
		Best Screenplay		Won
2019	Hong Kong Asian Film Festival	Best New Director	The House of Us [ko]	Won

Jury member

• 2022 — Jury member, Sonje Award at 27th Busan International Film Festival.^[12]

Ambassadorship

• Unobstructed Film Ambassadors (2023) ^[13]