Park Jung-hoon (, born June 21, 1982) is a South Korean cinematographer and film director. Park gained international recognition with the action thriller The Villainess, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. The film earned him four award nominations as Director of Photography. He has worked in the film industry for almost two decades across a variety of genres, including low-budget films, independent films, and documentaries.
Career
Early years Park Jung-hoon was born and raised in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea. His parents own a small video rental shop, so he had many opportunities to watch movies from an early age. He dreamt of working in the movie industry, but due to the high passing grade score for the Department of Film at university, going to the film department seemed like a day dream. He prepared for the entrance exam in the art major until the second grade. However, he couldn't hold his passion for movies in his heart and eventually gave up going to college.
Park moved to Seoul from his hometown of Taean to pursue a career in the film industry. At 19 years old (Korean Age), he became the youngest member of the filming team for Im Kwon-taek's 2002 movie Painted Fire or Chihwaseon.
In 2003, he worked as a filming staff of Kim Eui-suk's movie Cheongpung myeongwol, also known as Sword in the Moon. He then worked as filming staff for Im Kwon-taek's movie Low Life Haryu Insaeng (2004). He enlisted in mandatory military service three days after filming for Low Life. After finishing his service in 2006, he joined the crank-in for the movie Beyond the Years or Cheonnyeonhak, directed by Im Kwon-taek.
He worked as a staff member for director Zhang Lu for two movies, Desert Dream (2007) and Iri (2008). He also worked for Director Jeon Soo-il on low-budget art films such as Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells (2008) and I Came from Busan (2010), also called Youngdo Bridge.
A career as director of photography After building a career as a member of cinematographer teams for various works, Park made his debut as director of photography in the second work of director Kim Hee-jung, "Green Grape Candy: A Promise 17 Years Ago" in 2011. The movie was a project to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the residence at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie also won an award at the 13th Seoul International Women's Film Festival in 2011.
In the following year, Park worked as director of photography in two low-budget movies: Chubby Revolution (2012) directed by Min Doo-sik and Norigae (2012) directed by Choi Seung-ho.
He worked as director of photography on Mizo (2013) and Snowpath (2015).
In 2017, Park gained international recognition with his first commercial feature film, The Villainess. This South Korean action thriller was directed by Jung Byung-gil and stars Kim Ok-vin. The film had its world premiere at the 70th Cannes Film Festival in May 2017, where it received a four-minute standing ovation He won four awards as Director of Photography for this movie.
Debut as director Vistari, Himalaya was Park's first feature-length film. The documentary movie was screened at the 2016 Jeonju International Festival. The movie tells the story about four musicians' trip to Nepal, people they met there, their experiences and challenges they faced, and the small but precious realizations they made.
Ventured into small screen In 2021 Park was currently developing his first foray into television. He joined director Yoo Je-won in remake project of 2004 South Korean film Mr. Handy, Mr. Hong. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha was a romance drama starring Shin Min-a, Kim Seon-ho and Lee Sang-yi. The 16-episode drama aired on tvN from August 28 to October 17, 2021. As a simulcast Netflix Original, it was also available for streaming on Netflix.
Other activities In the 48th Seoul Independent Film Festival of 2022, Park and cinematographers Lee Seon-yeong were selected as judges for the CGK Cinematography Award category. This award recognizes outstanding cinematographers who took part in the screenings of both the short film competition and the feature film competition. The CGK Cinematography Award is a recently established category that was introduced last year and, in 2022, received support from the Korean Cinematographers Guild.
In July 2025, Park was appointed as Cinematography Mentors of The CHANEL X BIFF ASIAN FILM ACADEMY, with director Kim Jee-woon as dean and Mattie Do named Directing Mentor. The 2025 academy received a record 625 applications from 40 countries, showing the highest national diversity since its 2005 inception. Applications and selections from female filmmakers, alongside interest from Pakistan and China, also significantly increased from the previous year. Participants will undergo a 20-day intensive training and mentoring program from September 7 to 26, producing eight short films set to premiere at the 30th Busan International Film Festival.
Filmography Short film + Short film credit(s) Year Title Credited as Note English Korea Director DoP 2006 Fact 사실 Zhang Lu 2008 Child of Darkness Song Jong-hoon 2010 Two Nights Kim Mi-young Moment Kim Hyeon-ho 2011 Fixed Date (Giil) Debut as director 2012 Moral of My Time Kim Hee-jung 2020 Yellow Sea 황해 Produced by Zeiss Cinematography Moraenae Fantasy YELLOW 모래내 판타지 옐로우 Produced by Canon Korea 2023 Face that Face (Hwajang)
Feature films +Feature film credit(s) Year Title Credited as EnglishKorea DirectorDoPDoPCrew 2002 Painted Fire 취화선 Im Kwon-taek Jeong Il-seong Sex is Zero 색즉시공 Youn Je-kyoon Kim Yung-chul The Garden of Heaven Lee Dong-hyun Lee Seung-u 2003 Sword in the Moon Kim Eui-suk Mun Yong-shik 2004 Low Life 하류인생 Im Kwon-taek Jeong Il-seong 2006 Beyond the Years 천년학 Im Kwon-taek Jeong Il-seong The Bicycle Thief 자전거 도둑 Yu Geol-ki Yun Seong-won 2007 비만가족 Kim Jung-wook Kim Hong-gi Little Prince 최종현 Choi Jong Hyeon Kim Hong-min Desert Dream 경계 Zhang Lu Kim Sung-tae 2008 Iri Zhang Lu Kim Sung-tae Jeon Soo-il Kim Sung-tae 2009 Tidal Wave or Haeundae 해운대 Yoon Je-kyoon Kim Yeong-ho 2010 I Came from Busan or Youngdo Bridge 영도다리 Jeon Soo-il Kim Sung-tae End of Animal Jo Sung-hee Baek Moon-soo The Cane Park Kwang-woo Yoo Byung-jae 2011 Pink 헤드 핑크 Jeon Soo-il Kim Sung-tae HEAD조운Cho-unKim Gi-tae Kim Hee-jung 2012Min Doo-sik NorigaeChoi Seung-ho 2013 The Punisher 신동엽 Jai Ho-shin Kim Hong-gi Nam Ki-wong 2014 Rosa Maeng Gwan-Pyo Kim Hong-gi 2015Kim Hee-jung 2017 or Beautiful Voice 뷰티풀 보이스 Kim Sun-ung Kim Hong-gi The Villainess Jung Byung-gil 2018 Door Lock Lee Kwon HerstoryMin Kyu-dong Vistari, Himalaya 2019Kim Hee-jung FukuokaZhang Lu 2020 Samjin Company English Class 삼진그룹 영어토익반 Lee Jong-pil Park Se-seung Voice of SilenceHong Eui-jung 2021YanagawaZhang Lu 2022Confidential Assignment 2: International공조2: 인터내셔날Lee Seok-hoon2022Excellent우수Oh Se-hyeon rowspan="7" 2023 Where Would You Like to Go? 어디로 가고 싶으신가요 Kim Hee-jung rowspan="6" 2024 Mission: Cross 크로스 Lee Myeong-hun In the Realm of Ripley 아파트: 리플리의 세계 Chae Soo-eung Victory 빅토리 Park Beom-soo Dirty Money 더러운 돈에 손대지 마라 Kim Min-soo 2025 Nocturnal 브로큰 Kim Jin-hwang
Television +Television series credit(s) Year Title Network Credited as Note EnglishKorea DirectorDoP2021Hometown Cha-Cha-ChatvNNetflixYoo Je-won1st television drama series
Awards and recognitions +List of awards and nominations AwardYearCategoryRecipientResult 38thBlue Dragon Film Awards2017 Best Cinematography and LightingThe Villainess 26thBuil Film Awards Best Cinematography 30th 2020 Best Cinematography Voice of Silence 18thBusan Film Critics Awards2017 Technical AwardThe Villainess 54th Grand Bell Awards Best Cinematography 8thWildflower Film Awards 2021 Best Cinematography A French Woman
Notes
References
External links
Park Jung-Hoon at Naver
Park Jung-hoon at [YouTube]