Kim Ji-hoon (; born 1971), also spelled Kim Ji-hun, is a South Korean film director.
Life and career Kim Ji-hoon was born in Daegu. After graduating from Hanyang University's Theater and Film Art Department, he worked as an assistant director on a number of films. He made his feature directorial debut in 2004 with the film Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise, starring Cha In-pyo and Cho Jae-hyun. His 2007 film May 18, about the Gwangju Massacre of 1980 and which starred Kim Sang-kyung, Lee Yo-won and Lee Joon-gi, earned him the Best Director award at the 2008 Korea Movie Star Awards.; quote: "김지훈 감독은 2007년 730만 관객을 동원한 '화려한 휴가'로 제1회 대한민국영화연기대상 감독상, ... 제27회 한국영화평론가협의회 최우수예술가상 등을 수상했다." He went on to direct Sector 7, a 2011 action/horror film about a sea monster which attacked oil platforms, with an ensemble cast led by Ha Ji-won and Ahn Sung-ki. Distributor CJ E&M Pictures stated that Sector 7 was the highest-grossing South Korean film in China, but it was not well received by South Korean audiences, nor by critics, who panned its "flat" main characters and low-quality computer-generated imagery.
Kim's next work after that was The Tower, a disaster film about a fire in a high-rise apartment building, starring Sul Kyung-gu, Kim Sang-kyung and Son Ye-jin. In response to the criticisms of Sector 7, Kim spent nearly two years working with the post-production team on CGI; the film was finally released in December 2012. Kim stated that he got the idea for The Tower from a variety of boyhood experiences, including his first visit to Seoul where he saw the 63 Building and wondered what it would be like to get trapped inside, and a later incident where he got stuck in an elevator, which he described as "the moment when I first felt dread".
His most recent work, of I Want to Know Your Parents, has been postponed indefinitely following the sexual assault scandal of actor Oh Dal-su, with no release date set to date.
Filmography The Aquarium (short film, 1996) - director Egoism (short film, 1996) - director Greenhouse (short film, 1997) - director, screenplay, editor, sound Whispering Corridors (1998) - assistant director Full Moon Full Sun (short film, 1999) - actor Rush (1999) - assistant director The Secret (2000) - assistant director Mokpo, Gangster's Paradise (2004) - director, screenplay May 18 (2007) - director Sector 7 (2011) - director, screenplay The Tower (2012) - director, script editor Sinkhole (2021) - director I Want to Know Your Parents (2022) - director
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