Skip to content
30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025

Bong Joon Ho

BONG Joon Ho (1969, South Korea) studied at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His graduation film, Incoherence, was a cult success. In 1998, he wrote the script for Chun Min-Byung’s Phantom, the Submarine, an enormous hit in Korea, before making his feature debut with Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000). His second feature, Memories of Murder (2003), which was also shown in Rotterdam, was one of the biggest box-office hits in Korea. He repeated this success with his next feature, The Host (2006). Mother (2009) screened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and IFFR. Snowpiercer (2013) was his most high-profile project at the time, starring Chris Evans, Ed Harris and Tilda Swinton. Okja (2017) earned him his first Palme d’Or nomination and was released on Netflix. Parasite (2019) premiered at Cannes, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and became the first South Korean film to win the Palme d’Or. In 2020, the film won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, making it only the third film to win the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for Best Picture. A special black-and-white version of the film premiered at IFFR 2020, and won the Audience Award.

Filmography

Ji-ri-myeol-lyeol/Incoherence (1994, short), Baeksekin/White Man (1994, short), Peureimsogui Gieokdeul/Memories in My Frame (1994, short), Flandersui gae/Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Sarin ui chu-eok/Memories of Murder (2003), Sink & Rise (2003, short), Influenza (2004, short), Gue-Mool/The Host (2006), Tokyo! (2008, segment: Shaking Tokyo), Madeo/Mother (2009), 3.11: A Sense of Home (2011, segment: Iki), Snowpiercer (2013), Okja (2017), Gisaengchoong/Parasite (2019), Parasite (B&W Version) (2020)

More info: Wikipedia, Bong Joon Ho

Bong Joon Ho at IFFR

  • Influenza

    In this previously unreleased short film by Bong (Parasite), security cameras record the downward spiral of a failed salesman turned robber.

  • The Host

    After careless imperialist trials by the Americans, one beautiful summer day there is suddenly a gruesome monster hanging under one of the bridges ove

  • Incoherence

    As a student at the KAFA, Bong Joon-Ho (The Host, Memories of Murder) made this beautiful trilogy about hypocrisy and stupidity of authorities, still

  • Barking Dogs Never Bite

    Tragi-comic study about loneliness, in which two people who have nothing to do keep themselves busy, one kidnapping the other finding dogs in their di

  • Memento Mori

    Adolescent anxiety of young women in a society dominated by men is the starting point for a film about an obscure lesbian three-cornered affair.

  • Parasite (B&W Version)

    Inspired by their love of classic cinema, Bong Joon Ho and his cameraman made a black-and-white version of Parasite, the big hit of 2019.

  • Memories of Murder

    Melancholy humorous drama was the big hit of 2003 with press and audiences in Korea. The film is set in 1986, when Korea was ruled by a repressive mil

  • Influenza

    In this previously unreleased short film by Bong (Parasite), security cameras record the downward spiral of a failed salesman turned robber.

  • Mother

    The maker of The Host is again in top form. Dislocating drama about a mother who will do anything to prove that her mentally handicapped son is not a