LOS ANGELES — At the age of 56, filmmaker Park Chul Soo is a rare find in the Korean movie industry. Not only is he one of the few successful middle-aged filmmakers in Korea, but he can joke about his movies, like his latest, “Green Chair.”

“Films that deal with everyday lives could be unsophisticated and childish. Actually, it was my intention to make ‘Green Chair’ in that way,” says Park. “Surprisingly, people liked it.”

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that people who have seen “Green Chair” find it hard that such a movie could come from a man his age.

“After watching ‘Green Chair,’ people don’t believe I’m 56,” says Park.

Inspired by a true story, “Green Chair” is about the relationship between a male teenager and the 30-something married woman who is arrested for having sex with him. Even after being released by the police, the two continue their torrid affair.

“Please understand this film as an old director’s joke,” says Park. “Sex is very important in everyday life. There is always sex behind politics and money.”

The programmers at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival took “Green Chair” seriously. They added it to this year’s slate of movies, just like they had with some of his past works. Since his 1995 film “301/302,” with its story of two women with traumatic pasts living next door to each other and a tasty twist of an ending, Park has made the trek to Utah for “Farewell My Darling,” about children who return to their rural hometown for their father’s funeral, and the mockumentary “Kazoku Cinema.”

Park addresses the audience after the screening of “Green Chair” at the L.A. Korean International Film Festival

He was in Southern California in mid-September for the Los Angeles Korean International Film Festival, and he spared some of his time to attend an East Asian studies class at the University of Southern California for a screening of “Green Chair” and a question-and-answer session.

Afterwards, KoreAm caught up with Park, although there were several interruptions by USC students who wanted to tell him how much they enjoy his films — like Lucia, the Latina student wearing the “Be the Reds” T-shirt who wanted to have some pictures taken with him as well.

Do you like traveling to film festivals?

I believe my mind has become global because of my travels. I’m probably the most frequently invited Korean director to film festivals — more often than Im Kwon Taek. The Berlin and Sundance film festival people call me “family.”

How was the Sundance Film Festival this year?

This was the fourth time I was invited. Robert Redford loved “301/302.” Since then, whenever I make a movie, he calls me. He put “Green Chair” in the world competition category.

How else did “301/302” change your life?

It was the first Korean film distributed worldwide. Even at that time, there was no sense of worldwide distribution [for Korean movies] whatsoever. In fact, there is a really interesting story behind [the distribution of “301/302”]. At first, I wanted to distribute the film through Miramax. I heard that the executive liked sunflowers, so I bought one and went to the office. I had to wait for more than 30 minutes. The secretary asked me to wait and wait. I heard him talking over the phone, but he didn’t come out to greet me. I got upset and my patience ran out. I finally left without meeting him. So I went to another company that had eagerly wanted my film. Not only did the executive but also his wife welcomed me so warmly. So I made a contract with them. But that was a mistake. Since then, they never reported to me anything about the box office, or grosses. Then, the company disappeared. I learned a lesson from that.