---
name: "Bong Joon Ho"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/bong-joon-ho"
fi1m_id: "bong-joon-ho"
imdb_id: "nm0094435"
tmdb_id: 21684
wikidata_id: "Q495980"
roles: ["Writer","Director","Producer"]
born: "14 September 1969"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-27T07:51:29.873133+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Bong Joon Ho

## Identity

Bong Joon Ho

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/bong-joon-ho
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** bong-joon-ho
- **IMDb ID:** nm0094435
- **TMDB ID:** 21684
- **Wikidata ID:** Q495980
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_Joon_Ho, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q495980, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0094435/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21684

Writer and director. Born 14 September 1969 in Daegu, South Korea.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director, Producer
- **Born:** 14 September 1969, Daegu, South Korea
- **Active:** 2000–present
- **Also known as:** Bong Jun-ho, Пон Чжун Хо, Joon Ho Bong
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 directing, 1 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Song Kang-ho](https://film.one/person/song-kang-ho.md), [Byun Hee-bong](https://film.one/person/byun-hee-bong.md), [Bae Doona](https://film.one/person/bae-doona.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 3 Oscars (3 won)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 91 (1), 2010s 86 (2), 2020s 66 (2)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_Joon_Ho, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q495980, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0094435/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21684

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Snowpiercer*](https://film.one/film/snowpiercer.md) (80)
- **HBO Max:** [*Mickey 17*](https://film.one/film/mickey-17.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Bong Joon Ho

> Bong Joon Ho makes unfairness funny, then makes the laughter uncomfortable. We rate him highly when his plotting is as precise as his performances; his broader comedies have the same compassion but rather less restraint.

In *Parasite* (2019), Song Kang-ho and Park So-dam make a family con look workable simply by appearing certain of themselves. Their confidence gives the scheme momentum, and Bong and co-writer Han Jin-won make it a pleasure to follow. We laughed, then felt uneasy at how readily we had sided with the people doing the deceiving. That pleasure in watching people improvise under pressure is a good reason to watch him, even when his films grow untidy.

He began with the dark comedy of *Barking Dogs Never Bite* (2000), then turned to crime in *Memories of Murder* (2003) and monsters in *The Host* (2006). He moved into English-language production with *Snowpiercer* (2013) and *Okja* (2017). The genres change, but he keeps returning to people with too little protection from the institutions around them. *Parasite* makes both families fallible without pretending that they have equal freedom to make mistakes.

Production designer Lee Ha-jun’s mansion and basement home show what money buys without a speech about inequality. Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo keeps those rooms clear enough for us to follow the increasingly complicated plotting. Lee Sun-kyun and Cho Yeo-jeong play people accustomed to being accommodated, which is more telling than simple villainy. The music and writing occasionally overemphasise a point, but Bong usually gives us enough to notice for ourselves.

*Mickey 17* (2025) is funny and kind, but much less disciplined. Robert Pattinson makes its two versions of a disposable worker distinct through posture and manner, while Fiona Crombie’s cramped ship makes his repeated replacement look like ordinary workplace procedure. Cinematographer Darius Khondji lights those interiors greenish grey, saving the harsh white for the snowy planet outside. The canteen scene, in which Mickey politely answers another question about dying, makes the cruelty plain without a speech.

The trouble is that Bong keeps returning to jokes he has already landed. Mark Ruffalo’s bluster wears thin, and the middle stretches beyond what the story needs. Pattinson is still worth the evening. For a first encounter with Bong, we would send anyone to *Parasite*.

## Biography

Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean film director, screenwriter and producer. He was born on 14 September 1969 in Daegu.

He studied sociology at Yonsei University and film at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. His directorial debut was the black comedy *Barking Dogs Never Bite* (2000). Subsequent films include *Memories of Murder* (2003), *The Host* (2006), *Snowpiercer* (2013), *Okja* (2017) and *Parasite* (2019), on which he served as director, story writer and screenwriter. *Parasite* won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. His later film *Mickey 17* (2025) credits him as director, writer and producer.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, arstechnica.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Directed (4)

- *Mickey 17* (2025), Fi1m 70, Producer, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/mickey-17.md)
- *Parasite* (2019), Fi1m 91, Story, Producer, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/parasite.md)
- *Snowpiercer* (2013), Fi1m 80, Screenstory, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/snowpiercer.md)
- *Memories of Murder* (2003), Fi1m 91, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder.md)

### Wrote (1) — the average rests on these

- *Snowpiercer* (2020), Fi1m 63, Original Story, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/snowpiercer-2020.md)

## Complete filmography (40)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Incoherence* (2025), as Paperboy's Brother · Director, Writer, Editor
- *Mickey 17* (2025), Director, Producer, Writer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/mickey-17.md)
- *Kultur-King Korea* (2022), Actor
- *보는 것을 사랑한다* (2021), Actor
- *Snowpiercer* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Original Story — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/snowpiercer-2020.md)
- *봉준호, 장르가 되다* (2020), series, Actor
- *Parasite* (2019), Director, Story, Producer, Screenplay — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/parasite.md)
- *Okja* (2017), Director, Producer, Story, Screenplay
- *Sea Fog* (2014), Writer, Producer
- *Snowpiercer* (2013), Director, Screenplay, Screenstory — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/snowpiercer.md)
- *Doomsday Book* (2012), as Lee Joon-ho
- *A Brave New World* (2012), as Lee Joon-ho
- *3.11 A Sense of Home Films* (2011), Director
- *Mother* (2009), Director, Screenplay
- *Can I Borrow a Light?* (2009), as Guitar Man
- *Crush and Blush* (2008), as English Teacher
- *Tokyo!* (2008), Director, Writer
- *The Host* (2006), Director, Screenplay
- *Antarctic Journal* (2005), Writer
- *Influenza* (2004), Director, Writer
- *Jeonju Digital Project 2004* (2004), Writer, Director
- *Sink & Rise* (2004), Director, Writer
- *Memories of Murder* (2003), Director, Writer — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder.md)
- *No Blood No Tears* (2002), as Officer
- *Barking Dogs Never Bite* (2000), Director, Screenplay
- *Phantom: The Submarine* (1999), Writer
- *Motel Cactus* (1997), Writer, Assistant Director
- *7 Reasons Why Beer Is Better Than a Lover* (1996), Adaptation
- *Sounds from Heaven and Earth* (1994), as Lighting Technician
- *White Man* (1994), Writer, Director
- *The Memories in My Frame* (1994), Director, Writer, Producer
- *2001 Imagine* (1994), Director of Photography
- *The Love of a Grape Seed* (1994), as Lighting Technician
- *Looking For Paradise* (1992), Director, Writer, Editor
- *Ally*, Co-Writer
- *Ally*, Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *The Host : Histoires de famille*, as Bong Joon-ho
- *Untitled Lee Isaac Chung Project*, Producer
- *Untitled Bong Joon Ho Horror Action Film*, Director, Writer
- *The Host 2*, Characters

## Gallery

- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-e7a599a664ac.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Bong_Joon_Ho_-_Okja.jpg/1280px-Bong_Joon_Ho_-_Okja.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Bong Joon Ho at the Busan Film Festival in 2025](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-6e2d90c39571.jpg) Bong Joon Ho at the Busan Film Festival in 2025 — Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/2025-09-23_bong-joon-ho_jay-dixit-photos_07570.jpg/1280px-2025-09-23_bong-joon-ho_jay-dixit-photos_07570.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Bong Joon-ho and Robert Pattinson in South Korea for "Mickey 17" (2025)](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-1ed0e780b233.png) Bong Joon-ho and Robert Pattinson in South Korea for "Mickey 17" (2025) — K-POPIT 케이팝잇, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/BONG_JOON_HO_-_MICKEY_17_-_SOUTH_KOREA.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Bong Joon-Ho answering questions after a screening of his film The Host at the Vancouver International Film Festival. (2006)](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-e09f6721641b.jpg) Bong Joon-Ho answering questions after a screening of his film The Host at the Vancouver International Film Festival. (2006) — Greg Dunlap, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Bong_Joon-Ho.jpg/1280px-Bong_Joon-Ho.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-d54c274b705a.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Image via TMDB
- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-1364276d5fd8.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Image via TMDB
- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-163b65ad5ddf.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Image via TMDB
- ![Director Bong Joon-ho at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles, March 5th, 2010.](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-468bb6e76a4f.jpg) Director Bong Joon-ho at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles, March 5th, 2010. — Tomdog, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Bong_Joon-Ho_at_2010_Independent_Spirit_Awards.jpg/1280px-Bong_Joon-Ho_at_2010_Independent_Spirit_Awards.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![オクジャ/okja ジャパン・プレミア ポン・ジュノ (2017)](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-74fc7bc42f32.jpg) オクジャ/okja ジャパン・プレミア ポン・ジュノ (2017) — Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Bong_Joon-ho_2017.jpg/1280px-Bong_Joon-ho_2017.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-e02ee689764e.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Image via TMDB
- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-41f8869388bc.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Image via TMDB
- ![Bong Joon Ho](https://film.one/media/person/374/gallery-410656066fce.jpg) Bong Joon Ho — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 3 won

- 2020: Best Director (won), for *Parasite*
- 2020: Best Picture (won), for *Parasite*
- 2020: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won), for *Parasite*

### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won

- 2019: Palme d'Or (won), for *Parasite*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Officer of Arts and Letters 2016: Officer of Arts and Letters (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/bong-joon-ho