A Conversation with Sook-Yin Lee: A Life in Motion

Lee explores how artists navigate institutions and why the fringe remains one of culture's most vital places for new ideas to emerge.Adventurous artists rarely remain within a single discipline. Driven by curiosity rather than convention, they move fluidly between mediums, building a creative language that draws from each new form. Over a career spanning film, music, broadcasting, performance, and writing, Sook-Yin Lee has embodied this spirit of exploration, embracing experimentation, collaboration, and the unexpected.In this intimate conversation, moderated by Marigold Santos, Lee reflects on a career shaped by creative risk-taking and cultural production across multiple worlds. They will explore how artists forge their own paths, sustain an independent practice over decades, and why the fringe continues to be one of culture's most fertile grounds for new ideas._________Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian filmmaker, musician, actor, multimedia artist, and award-winning radio and television broadcaster whose career spans film, music, visual art, dance, and performance. She has worked across CBC, the BBC, and MuchMusic.After starring in John Cameron Mitchell's groundbreaking LGBTQ+ film Shortbus, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Lee made her feature writing and directing debut with Year of the Carnivore, starring Cristin Milioti, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival.In 2014, Lee received the Canadian Screen Awards for Best Performance by a Lead Actress for portraying Olivia Chow in Jack. She later wrote and starred in Unsafe for Canadian Stage, a work examining censorship and artistic freedom.Lee's multidisciplinary practice has been presented by the Ottawa Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Dance Theatre, and the Festival of New Dance. Alongside her filmmaking, she has released multiple albums, choreographed dance works, and developed a vibrant visual arts practice. As a composer, she has contributed music to Brandon Cronenberg's films Infinity Pool and Antiviral. Her latest album, 72RHR, is available through Hand Drawn Dracula Records.________BUMP Festival returns August 3–17, 2026, transforming Calgary through murals, sculpture, music, placemaking, and artistic dialogue. Running August 13–15, the BUMP Urban Art Conference is the festival's ideas hub—a three-day gathering of artists, thinkers, musicians, and cultural leaders exploring the forces shaping public art and the cities we share. Learn more at yycbump.ca and follow @yycbump on Instagram.