JUNG Sang-jin, born in 1968, has always been interested in movies. He studied film at Chung-Ang University and even took part in the shooting of several movies, but since he lacked confidence in his own screenwriting skills he eventually gave up his dream. He did all kinds of odd jobs, promoting foreign fashion brands and publishing a car magazine, until one day he realized that it would be a shame not to work in films after graduating from Chung-Ang, arguably the best school...More

JUNG Sang-jin, born in 1968, has always been interested in movies. He studied film at Chung-Ang University and even took part in the shooting of several movies, but since he lacked confidence in his own screenwriting skills he eventually gave up his dream. He did all kinds of odd jobs, promoting foreign fashion brands and publishing a car magazine, until one day he realized that it would be a shame not to work in films after graduating from Chung-Ang, arguably the best school in the field in Korea. He thus founded in 1996 the exhibition company Atnine, and, after months of persuasion, he received in 1998 the approval from the municipality of Seoul to open a drive-in theater in Namsan (now known as Megabox EOE4). Following the success of his first venture, he opened in 2004 two multiplex theaters in collaboration with cinema group Cinus, in Paju Book City and Isu, Seoul. After the merging of Cinus with Megabox, JUNG retained the control of two screens in Isu that he rebranded in 2013 as “Art Nine”, an independent theater dedicated to arthouse films. Strongly impressed by Junji SAKAMOTO’s <Children of the Dark> (2008), he thought that this kind of movies deserved a chance to be seen in Korea and so took upon himself to acquire the distribution rights for the film, regardless of commercial considerations. This marked his debut in the distribution, and he would quickly become one of the best known names in arthouse films in Korea, with a catalogue of films that tackle social issues and challenge taboos such as <The Hunt> (2012), <The Act of Killing> (2012) and <Nymphomaniac> (2013). He also invested in Korean films, having notably distributed YOO Ji-tae’s <Mai Ratima> (2012), LEESONG Hee-il’s <Night Flight> (2013), and YOON Ga-eun’s <The World of Us> (2016). His support of political films <National Security> (2012) and <Spy Nation> (2016) even got him into hot water, as it was later revealed that his name had been added as a result to the blacklist of artists created by PARK Geun-hye’s government. A fan of Xavier DOLAN, JUNG is also known for having brought to Korea all the films of the Canadian director. As the director of one of the only film companies from the 90s that has survived through the successive economic crises that hit Korea, he is highly respected in the film industry and received in 2015 the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild Flower Film Awards.Less