Biography
Hong Sang-soo (born October 25, 1960) is a South Korean writer-director. He has directed 33 films as of 2025. Certain elements are commonly found in Hong's films. A typical Hong film highlights a theme of domestic realism with many of the scenes set on residential streets, cafes, hotels, schools, and in the stairwells of apartment buildings. Characters are seen walking around the city, drinking soju, and having sex. The main characters are often movie directors or actors, and scenes typically consist of a single shot, often beginning and ending with a camera zoom. The budgets for his movies average about $100,000. Hong is often spontaneous when shooting, delivering the day's scene on the morning of the shoot and frequently changing stories while on set. He rarely prepares scripts in advance. Hong's style has been compared to Eric Rohmer's, and it has even been argued that allusions to Rohmer's films appear in some films directed by Hong.
Awards & recognition
- Blue Dragon Film Award — Best New Director · 1996
Filmography26 titles
Right Now, Wrong Then
Night and Day
The Day He Arrives
In Front of Your Face
Tale of Cinema
Oki's Movie
The Power of Kangwon Province
The Woman Who Ran
Grass
On the Beach at Night Alone
Hill of Freedom
Our Sunhi
A Traveler's Needs
In Water
The Novelist's Film
The Day After
Nobody's Daughter Haewon
Walk Up
Introduction
Hotel by the River
Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors
Claire's Camera
Yourself and Yours
Hahaha
Woman on the Beach
In Another Country