Film Directors

An Introduction

PARK CHAN-WOOK

Old Boy, The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave

Film director, screenwriter, producer, and former film critic. One of the most prominent filmmakers of South Korean cinema as well as world cinema.

Currently working on the TV miniseries The Sympathizer, based on the novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

BONG JOON-HO

Memories of Murder, The Host, Parasite

Film director, producer and screenwriter. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his films are characterised by an emphasis on social and class themes, blending of genres, black humor, and sudden tonal shifts.

Bong’s new film Mickey 17 will be released in 2024.

LEE CHANG-DONG

Peppermint Candy, Secret Sunshine, Burning

Film director, screenwriter, and novelist. Burning became the first Korean film to make it to the 91st Academy Awards’ final nine-film shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film.

Lee’s short story Snowy Day was recently published in The NewYorker.

YIM SOON-RYE

Waikiki Brothers, Forever the Moment, Little Forest

Film director and screenwriter. Yim Soon-rye is considered one of the few leading female auteurs of Korean New Wave cinema. Yim focuses on the daily lives of people in a society that alienates them.

Yim’s latest work The Point Men, released in 2023, is a fictionalized version of the 2007 Korean hostage crisis and rescue mission in Afghanistan.

HONG SANG-SOO

Right Now, Wrong Then; The Woman Who Ran

An acclaimed and prolific filmmaker, Hong is known for his slow-paced films about relationships and everyday problems in contemporary South Korea. His style has been compared to Eric Rohmer’s.

Hong’s latest film In Our Day premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

NA HONG-JIN

The Chaser, The Yellow Sea, The Wailing

Award winning film director, producer, and screenwriter. Na is best known for violent thrillers and horror films that also touch on social issues.

Na’s latest project ist the thriller Hope featuring an international cast