Director Park Chan-wook's latest film "The Handmaiden" was the only Korean movie to be invited to this year's Cannes Film Festival. Although it failed to win the Palm d'Or award, another well-deserving honor was bestowed on the film's art director Ryu Seong-hie, who became the first Korean to win the Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist. She was recognized for setting the movie's mysterious tone with her stage production. It’s been 16 years since Ryu Seong-hie started working in Korea under the title of production designer. She took part in several acclaimed films, such as “Memories of Murder,” “Oldboy,” “Assassination,” and “Ode to My Father,” to play up the films’ atmospheres. She has been pioneering the field of cinematic aesthetics for Korean films. Ryu’s work philosophy is that no progress can be made without new attempts. All her past works were the results of her bold decisions to go beyond people’s imagination. She wants to share such courageous endeavors with her junior art directors, who opted to walk the same career path as she had, so that they wouldn’t be discouraged by the poor working conditions and give up their dreams. Ryu Seong-hie hopes to become technical artists’ aspiration.