Visceral, subversive, baroque – Park Chan-wook’s cinema is defined by boldness in every sense: in its storytelling, its style, and its moral stance. Yet he never strays from a symbolic social message or from his audience, whom he immerses in dark and unsettling worlds for journeys that are by turns terrifying, exhilarating, erotic… or all at once. It all began at Cannes with Old Boy, which won the Grand Prix in 2004. Since then, nearly all of his selections in the Competition have earned him a place on the list of winners: Thirst (Jury Prize 2009), The Handmaiden (2016), Decision to Leave (Best Director Award in 2022). Developing a body of work permeated by revenge with the trilogy – Sympathy for Mister Vengeance, Old Boy, and Lady Vengeance, and by the influence of Hitchcock – perceptible in Stoker (2013) through to his recent No Other Choice (2025) – his work embodies the DNA of contemporary Korean cinema: unconstrained by conventions, audience-oriented, ambitious and deliberately provocative, sophisticated without being overly intellectual.
Jury attendance
- President Feature films, 2026
