Born in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do, Lee worked on a number of animations after graduating from Korea University′s education department. He has produced hundreds of broadcasting documentaries since 1993. With Old Partner in 2008, he won the BIFF Mecenat Award at the Busan International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Seoul Independent Film Festival, and Best New Director at the Baeksang Arts Award 2009. Since then, he has been invited to the world′s leading film festivals, including the documentary competition section at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the Best New Artist at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. CICADA is the director’s feature debut film.