Park Chan-wook is a Korean film director, screenwriter, producer and former film critic who has emerged as one of the most significant talents in cinema in recent years. He is best known for his films JOINT SECURITY AREA, THIRST and what has become known as THE VENGEANCE TRILOGY consisting of SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, OLD BOY and LADY VENGEANCE.
Park’s incredibly diverse body of work has garnered recognition in his homeland as well as from a number of leading international film festivals. Most recently his short film NIGHT FISHING , shot entirely with Apple’s iPhone, won the Golden Bear (Short Film) at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival.
In 2009 Park received worldwide attention for his vampire thriller THIRST, which earned him the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. This monumental film was the first Korean film ever to secure North American distribution rights and Hollywood studio investment at the production stage. LADY VENGEANCE was awarded the Cinema Avvenire and Il Leoncino d’oro awards in competition at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. This was preceded by OLDBOY, which won the prestigious Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Park’s interest in film began in college as a philosophy student at Sogang University where he founded a film club and developed a strong interest in film theory and criticism. His film JOINT SECURITY AREA became the biggest box office hit in the history of Korean cinema at the time of its release (since then, the record has been passed onto other films).
Park’s ninth and latest feature film is his first English language film STOKER starring Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode and Nicole Kidman, which released in March 2013 to critical acclaim world over. STOKER is distributed worldwide by Twentieth Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Workshop: Directing with Park Chan-wook
In Conversation: Robert Sarkies talks to guest Park Chan-wook
