Park Jung-hoon

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.

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.

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

Television

Awards and recognitions