I. Introduction
Chung Ji-young is a South Korean film director and screenwriter.
II. Career
The most representative writer-director of the Korean film industry in the 1990s, Chung Ji-young honed his directing skills by working as an assistant director for Kim Soo-yong.
Chung, whose feature debut was an erotic mystery, Mist Whispers Like Women (1982), also directed about 20 episodes of the MBC one-act play Best Theater.
His heyday came when he departed from melodramas and thrillers and started working on more serious and reality-based films such as North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1989), White Badge (1992), and Life of Hollywood Kid (1994).
He is also known as a representative activist director in Chungmooro by leading fellow filmmakers and actors on issues such as the campaign against direct distribution of foreign movies, the efforts to establish a screen quota system, and abolishment of the pre-censorship system.
In 2011, Chung introduced both Unbowed, based on a real-life story of a professor standing up to the abuses of the judicial branch, and Ari Ari the Korean Cinema, a unique documentary that looks back at the history of Korean cinema, during the 16th Busan International Film Festival. Unbowed, in particular, directly criticized the corruption in the judicial system in Korea and caused a controversy. In addition, Chung led the fight to oppose the signing of the Korea-USA free trade agreement, still demonstrating himself to be ‘an activist filmmaker.’
Chung caused a stir once again in 2012 with the release of National Security, a no-holds barred look at the rampant torture performed by Korea’s security services circa the 1980s.
III. Filmography
Assistant Director
| Year | Title |
| 1976 | Scissors, Rock, and Wrap |
| 1977 | A Splendid Outing |
| 1978 | The Swamp of Exile |
| 1978 | The Sound of Laughter |
| 1979 | The Terms of Love |
Screenplay Writer
Director
| Year | Poster | Title |
| 1982 | ... | The Mist Whispers Like a Woman |
| 1984 | ... | The Light of Recollection |
| 1987 | ... | A Street Musician |
| 1987 | ... | A Woman on the Verge |
| 1988 | ... | A Forest Where a Woman Breathes |
| 1988 | ... | Mountain Snake |
| 1990 | ... | North Korean Partisan in South Korea |
| 1991 | ... | Beyond the Mountain |
| 1992 | ... | White Badge |
| 1994 | ... | Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid |
| 1996 | 7 Reasons Why Beer Is Better Than a Lover | |
| 1997 | Blackjack | |
| 1998 | Naked Being | |
| 2012 | Unbowed | |
| 2012 | National Security | |
| 2013 | A Journey with Korean Masters | |
| 2019 | Black Money |
