The most representative writer-director of the Korean film industry in the 1990s, CHUNG Ji-young honed his directing skills by working as an assistant director for [KIM Soo-yong]. CHUNG, whose feature debut was an erotic mystery, <Mist Whispers Like Women>(1982), also directed about 20 episodes of the MBC one-act play <Best Theater>. His heyday came when he departed from melodramas and thrillers and started working on more serious and reality-based films such as &...More

The most representative writer-director of the Korean film industry in the 1990s, CHUNG Ji-young honed his directing skills by working as an assistant director for [KIM Soo-yong]. CHUNG, whose feature debut was an erotic mystery, <Mist Whispers Like Women>(1982), also directed about 20 episodes of the MBC one-act play <Best Theater>. His heyday came when he departed from melodramas and thrillers and started working on more serious and reality-based films such as <North Korean Partisan in South Korea> (1989), <White Badge> (1992), and <Life of Hollywood Kid> (1994). He is also known as a representative activist director in Chungmooro by leading fellow filmmakers and actors on issues such as the campaign against direct distribution of foreign movies, the efforts to establish a screen quota system, and abolishment of the pre-censorship system. In 2011, CHUNG introduced both <Unbowed>, based on a real-life story of a professor standing up to the abuses of the judicial branch, and <Ari Ari the Korean Cinema>, a unique documentary that looks back at the history of Korean cinema, during the 16th Busan International Film Festival. <Unbowed>, in particular, directly criticized the corruption in the judicial system in Korea and caused a controversy. In addition, CHUNG led the fight to oppose the signing of the Korea-USA free trade agreement, still demonstrating himself to be ‘an activist filmmaker.’ CHUNG caused a stir once again in 2012 with the release of <National Security>, a no-holds barred look at the rampant torture performed by Korea’s security services circa the 1980s.Less