Best South Korean Directors
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- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Park Chan-wook was born on 23 August 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and writer, known for Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.1- Oldboy
2- Joint Security Area
3- Mr. Vengeance
4- Lady Vengeance
5- Thirst
6- Stoker
7- I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK
8- Three... Extremes
9- Judgment (short)
10- Night Fishing (short)- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's Premier Scenario contest, whilst his follow up The Quiet Family (1998) became not only his directorial debut, but also the source material for Takashi Miike's remake The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) in 2001.
With an official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival and Best Film award at the Fantasport Film Festival for "A Quiet Family", his next film, 2000's The Foul King (2000), was an instant domestic hit, maintaining the #1 spot for over 6 months, with over 2 million admissions, it was also a worldwide festival crowd-pleaser. The short Coming Out (2000) and his contribution to 3 Extremes II (2002) (alongside segments from Peter Ho-Sun Chan and Nonzee Nimibutr) followed and then he made the 2003 horror A Tale of Two Sisters (2003).
He is a fan of film-noir and claims that many of his films contain elements of noir, often mixed with black comedy. His movie A Bittersweet Life (2005) his full on film-noir gangster thriller masterwork.1- I Saw the Devil
2- A Bittersweet Life
3- A Tale of Two Sisters
4- The Good, the Bad, the Weird
5- The Quiet Family
6- The Foul King
7- The Last Stand
8- Doomsday Book- Writer
- Director
- Producer
He studied fine arts in Paris in 1990-1992. In 1993 he won the award for Best Screenplay from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting with "A Painter and A Criminal Condemned to Death". After two more screenplay awards, he made his directorial debut with Crocodile (1996) ("Crocodile"). Then he went on to direct Wild Animals (1997) ("Wild Animals"), Birdcage Inn (1998) ("Birdcage Inn"), The Isle (2000) ("The Isle") and the highly experimental Real Fiction (2000) ("Real Fiction"), shot in just 200 minutes. In 1999, Address Unknown (2001) ("Address Unknown") was selected by the Pusan Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) for development.1- 3-Iron
2- Pieta
3- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
4- Samaritan Girl
5- The Isle
6- Time
7- Bad Guy
8- The Bow
9- Breath
10- Address Unknown- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), the monster film The Host (2006), the science fiction action film Snowpiercer (2013), and the black comedy thriller Parasite (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history.
All of Bong's films have been South Korean productions, although both Snowpiercer and Okja (2017) are mostly in the English language. Two of his films have screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival-Okja in 2017 and Parasite in 2019; the latter earned the Palme d'Or, which was a first for a South Korean film. Parasite also became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first film not in English to win Best Picture. In 2017, Bong was included on Metacritic's list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century. In 2020, Bong was included in Time's annual list of 100 Most Influential People and Bloomberg 50.1- Memories of Murder
2- Mother
3- The Host
4- Barking Dogs Never Bite- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Na Hong-jin born in 1974 is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His debut film The Chaser (2008) won Best Director at the 45th Grand Bell Awards in 2008. The film also won the award for Best Film. His follow up film, The Yellow Sea, was released in South Korea on December 15, 2010. It is scheduled to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.1- The Chaser
2- The Yellow Sea- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hae-sung Song was born on 11 October 1964 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a director and writer, known for Failan (2001), Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinary (2004) and Boomerang Family (2013).1- Failan
2- Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinary
3- A Better Tomorrow
4- Maundy Thursday- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Jae-young Kwak was born on 22 May 1959 in South Korea. He is a writer and director, known for My Sassy Girl (2001), Cyborg She (2008) and Mu-rim-yeo-dae-saeng (2008).1- The Classic
2- My Sassy Girl
3- Windstruck
4- Cyborg Girl
5- My Mighty Princess
6- Gang de qin- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Ha Yoo is known for A Dirty Carnival (2006), A Frozen Flower (2008) and Once Upon a Time in High School: The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do (2004).1- A Dirty Carnival
2- A Frozen Flower
3- Howling
4- The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do
5- Marriage Is a Crazy Thing- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Director Je-Kyu Kang was born in South Korea. Before directing his hit film Shiri (1999) pronounced "Shee Rhee", Kang nearly gave up the film business. After struggling for many years, he has finally become one of the premier directors in South Korea.1- The Brotherhood of War
2- My Way
3- Swiri
4- The Gingko Bed- Director
- Writer
- Editor
John H. Lee's films are imbued with top-notch cosmopolitan sensibilities. He has become one of the most sought after directors in all of East Asia and is a member of the rising generation of international directors from the region, having both a distinct voice as an auteur and wide commercial appeal with diverse genres of films. Born in Seoul, Korea, Lee moved to the U.S. at the age of 12. Upon graduating from the film school at New York University, Lee made his feature debut with "The Cut Runs Deep," a poetic independent film about East Asian youth gangs in New York City. After running the festival circuit around the world, "The Cut Runs Deep" was released in Korea in 2000 and instantly became a cult classic.
Since his successful debut, Lee has directed numerous international music videos and T.V. commercials in East Asia and Europe, eventually opting to move his residence back to Seoul in search of his spiritual roots. In 2004, Lee directed his second feature film, a love story, entitled, "A Moment to Remember". It was Lee's first Korean-language film; a passionate, psychologically complex, and emotionally charged story about a man and a woman, two star-crossed lovers, separated by the slow loss of the woman's memory. "A Moment to Remember" instantly became the highest grossing domestic film in the romance genre in the history of Korean cinema. Subsequently released in Japan the following year, "A Moment to Remember" has become the most successful Korean film ever in Japan, a record that still stands. "A Moment to Remember" is considered by many to be a romance masterpiece, standing above all other romantic films in East Asia.
After a long search for projects to expand his horizons, John H. Lee next took on an experimental challenge, his third feature film, titled "Sayonara Itsuka," based on a Japanese novel of the same title. It was wildly innovative in that he made a flawless Japanese-language film with top Japanese actors, utilizing the best Korean film crew. Some thought it couldn't be done, or at least, couldn't be done well. Lee didn't speak Japanese, and the production proved to be very arduous and difficult in every aspect, but when the movie was finally released in Japan in 2010, it blew the audience away with a passionate telling of a lost love that spans 25 years. The Japanese audiences were shocked by the beauty and scale of the film, and it was yet another critical box office hit in Japan.
For his fourth opus, John H. Lee took another surprise turn. It was a historical Korean War epic, titled "71/ Into the Fire," based on a true story about a group of 71 student soldiers fighting to protect a school during the outset of the "forgotten" Korean War in 1950.
Lee took another step towards a new frontier when he accepted an invitation to helm a Chinese film, "The Third Way of Love", based on a best-selling novel in China, a love story between a wealthy corporate heir and a beautiful, but recently divorced lawyer.
Lee also recently saw box office success in Korea with "Operation Chromite", a true story about an intel-warfare between South and North Korea during Korean War. Aside from starring A-list Korean actors such as Lee Jung Jae and Lee Bum Soo, "Operation Chromite" also received lots of attention for being the first Korean film to cast an A-list Hollywood actor in a prominent role. Liam Neeson delivers powerfully as General Douglas MacArthur in this intense film about the military operation that was decisive in turning the tide of the Korean War.
John H. Lee is represented by C.A.A.1- A Moment to Remember
2- 71: Into the Fire
3- Sayonara Itsuka
4- The Cut Runs Deep