Sharon Choi (born Choi Sung-jae; 1994 or 1995) is a South Korean interpreter and film director. She received widespread recognition and praise as

Bong Joon-ho Bong Joon-ho (, ; Hanja: 奉俊昊; born September 14, 1969) is a South Korean film director, producer and screenwriter. The recipient of four Academy Awards, his filmography is characterised by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black h ...

's Korean–English interpreter during the 2019–2020 film awards season.

Early life and education

Choi was born in 1994 or 1995 in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. She moved to the United States at a young age and returned to Korea when she was ten years old. Choi attended the Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies in

Yongin Yongin () is a city in the Seoul Capital Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in the count ...

and the

School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Career

During the press tour for the 2018 film ''

Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

'', Choi interpreted for director Lee Chang-dong. She met

in April 2019 when she was asked to interpret for one of his phone interviews, and accompanied him at the

2019 Cannes Film Festival The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2019. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu served as jury president. The Palme d'Or went to the South Korean film ''Parasite'', directed by Bong Joon-ho; Bong became t ...

, where his film ''

Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

'' won the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

. Choi continued as Bong's interpreter throughout the 2019–2020 film awards season, including at the

77th Golden Globe Awards The 77th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2019, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Produced by Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA, the ceremony was broadcast live on January 5, 2020, fro ...

, the

72nd Writers Guild of America Awards The 72nd Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best writing in film, television and radio of 2019. Nominees for television and radio were announced on December 5, 2019, while nominees for film were announced on January 6, 2020. Winners wer ...

, and the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...

. In May 2021, she interpreted for Bong as he presented the award for

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...

. The success of ''Parasite'' resulted in widespread visibility for Choi, and she received praise from industry figures and audiences for her nuanced interpretations of Bong's speeches and interviews. Zack Sharf of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' described Choi as "the undisputed

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of Oscar season", and ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

'' credited her with generating excitement for ''Parasite'' among American audiences in the run-up to the Academy Awards. Some people in South Korea practiced English by watching videos of Choi's interpretations. She gained an internet

fanbase A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

and was frequently praised on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and in the comments sections of Bong's interviews. In July 2020, she received the YoungSan Diplomat Award from the nonprofit Seoul Forum for International Affairs for "her role in enhancing South Korea's national image". In addition to her work as an interpreter, Choi is a film director and producer. She directed ''Self Portrait'', a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

that was screened at CAAMFest in 2019. She co-produced the 2020 short film ''Mother of Three'', directed by

Han Jun-hee Han Jun-hee (born 1985) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Han wrote and directed the female-driven crime thriller '' Coin Locker Girl'' (2015). Filmography *''To Bite a Cigarette'' (short film, 2005) - director *''Once in a ...

. In February 2020, ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...

'' reported that Choi was working on a screenplay about the awards season. She later refuted the reports in a ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' essay and instead announced that she was writing a screenplay for a film set in Korea. Bong himself has publicly expressed interest in Choi's scripts. In 2021, Choi hosted the
StrangeLand
' audio podcast alongside Ben Adair, about the 2003 Miracle Mile Murders in

Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Sharon 1990s births Interpreters Living people People from Seoul South Korean film directors South Korean film producers South Korean screenwriters South Korean women film directors USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni South Korean women film producers Women screenwriters