Jang Joon-hwan

Early life and education

Jang enrolled at Sungkyunkwan University as an English literature major after failing to gain admission to the physics department. He described his major as profound but difficult to grasp. During his senior year of college, Jang experienced a period of intense frustration and sought an outlet by joining a university film club. This experience fostered a meaningful interest in the medium, leading him to enroll in the Korean Academy of Film Arts in 1994, where he began his formal relationship with filmmaking.

Jang's first directing job was on the 1994 short film 2001 Imagine. It was his graduation project, completed as part of the Korean Academy of Film Arts' one-year curriculum, originated from a single, persistent image: a man delusional enough to believe he is a giant confessing this to his mother. By incorporating themes involving John Lennon and Yoko Ono, he developed this concept into a short film that garnered critical acclaim at the Clermont-Ferrand, San Francisco, and Vancouver Film Festivals.

Career

Career beginning

After graduating in 1995, Jang spent two years as a teaching assistant at the academy. While the role provided a modest salary, he eventually found the work stagnant. During this period, he served as a cinematographer for Ryoo Seung-wan's short film Transmutated Head (1996). His creative focus during this time shifted toward Fart Man, an ambitious script about a man whose flatulence grants him destructive superpowers. Although it became his primary candidate for a debut feature, the project was ultimately shelved due to its requirement for a massive production scale.

In 1997, after concluding his role as a teaching assistant, Jang transitioned into the professional film industry after being recruited by Bong Joon-ho to join the production team for Park Ki-yong's Motel Cactus. This experience was pivotal for Jang, allowing him to establish professional networks. Several individuals he collaborated with on Motel Cactus would later become key creative partners for his debut feature, Save the Green Planet!: producer Cha Seung-jae (then CEO of Uno Film), cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, and assistant director Kim Jong-hoon.

Feature-length film debut

After a brief, three-month stint working on a screenwriting project in Canada in 1999, he returned to Korea to focus on his directorial debut. In the spring of 2000, he conceived the premise for what would become his feature-length debut, Save the Green Planet! (2003). The film is widely regarded as one of the most unique and original works in the history of Korean cinema. Upon its release, it earned critical acclaim, securing Jang the Best Director award at the 4th Busan Film Critics Awards, and the Special Silver St. George for Best Director at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival.

He directed two more short films Hair (2004), and Love for Sale (2010, as part of the omnibus Camellia, about the past, present and future of the city Busan). Then, in 2013, Jang's long-awaited second feature film was released, a revenge thriller titled Hwayi: A Monster Boy.

In 2017, he directed a political thriller film titled 1987: When the Day Comes. The film was a critical and commercial success, and won Best Director and Best Film at the 9th KOFRA Film Awards, as well as Best Film at the 39th Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Bugonia

In May 2020, Jang was set to direct an English-language remake of his film Save the Green Planet!, with Will Tracy adapting the screenplay. However, Jang later stepped down as director due to health problems, although he remained an executive producer on the project. By February 2024, it was revealed that Yorgos Lanthimos would replace Jang as director. By October 2024, the film was retitled Bugonia, prior to being scheduled for a limited release in the United States on October 24, 2025, before a wide release on October 31.

Personal life

Jang married actress Moon So-ri on December 24, 2006.