Hailed internationally as one of the most innovative contemporary filmmakers and voted on a regular basis by Korean critics as the Director of the year, Hong Sang-soo was born in Seoul, in 1960. He studied filmmaking at Chungang University and then went to the United States, where he received a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. Returning to Korea, he worked as a director in television. While teaching screenwriting at the Korean Institute of Art, he began directing feature films.

He first received international attention when his debut film, The Day a Pig Fell into the Well, won the Dragons and Tigers award at the Vancouver International Festival in 1996, and the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 1997. It went on to screen at the forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival and won quite a few other awards as well. Many consider it the best Korean film of the decade. He followed this up with The Power of Kangwon Province, which premiered in the 98 Cannes Film Festival in the "Un certain regard" program, where it received a Special Mention. With his first two films, Hong Sang-soo had already established himself as the most noteworthy director in Asia; with Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, which also premiered in "Un certain regard", Hong Sang-soo seemed to have created a unique genre of his own, realistically yet masterfully portraying the mundane details of life and deftly exploring the mystery of human nature. His latest film, The Turning Gate, is similar and at the same time different from his other films. Maintaining his strain of dry humor, Hong Sang-soo allows his characters to roam unhindered, creating a sense of freedom and unfamiliarity. "Cahiers du Cinema" recently proclaimed him the most interesting and promising filmmaker in Korea.

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