Yoon Jong-chan (born 1963) is a South Korean film director. He
directed Sorum (2001), Blue Swallow (2005), I Am Happy (2009) and My
Paparotti (2013).Yoon Jong-chan majored in Film at Hanyang University,
and upon graduation he joined the crew of Kim Young-bin's No Emergency
Exit (1993) as an assistant director. In 1995, Yoon went to the United
States to attend Syracuse University, where he earned his MFA in Film
Directing. While at Syracuse, he directed three short films about
memory and fate, Playback (1996), Memento (1997), and Views (1999),
which won numerous awards at film festivals both in Korea and
abroad.Yoon returned to Korea in 2001, and first taught in the film
department of Hoseo University. He then made his feature directorial
debut with Sorum (meaning "gooseflesh" in Korean). About damaged
people living in a dilapidated apartment complex (particularly a taxi
driver who has an affair with a battered housewife, played by Kim
Myung-min and Jang Jin-young), local critics praised Sorum as a
stylish, atmospheric, deeply challenging, and intelligently written
horror film. Yoon won Best New Director at the Busan Film Critics
Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards, while Sorum won three awards at
Fantasporto, including Best Director for Yoon, Best Actress for Jang,
and the Special Jury Prize.For his next film, biopic Blue Swallow
(2005), Yoon again cast Jang in the leading role as Park Kyung-won, a
real-life Korean pioneering female aviator who lived in the 1920s and
1930s (the film is named after Park's beloved biplane). Yoon proved
that he could handle an ambitious, big-budget project, and the â‚©9.5
billion (US$6+ million) blockbuster had overseas locations in Japan,
El Mirage (California), and Changchun (China), included 1,100
CGI-enhanced aerial scenes, and employed 1,000 extras. But the film
became mired in controversy when certain conservative internet
reporters accused Park of being a pro-Japanese collaborator and
alleged that the film had whitewashed its protagonist, to which Yoon
responded, "I don't have any intention to embellish her or depict her
as a independence fighter in my film. I just wanted to show a tragedy
of a woman who had to choose her dream over her country." Despite
excellent reviews and Park's biographer pointing out factual errors in
these accusations, it resulted in the under-performance of Blue
Swallow at the box office.
directed Sorum (2001), Blue Swallow (2005), I Am Happy (2009) and My
Paparotti (2013).Yoon Jong-chan majored in Film at Hanyang University,
and upon graduation he joined the crew of Kim Young-bin's No Emergency
Exit (1993) as an assistant director. In 1995, Yoon went to the United
States to attend Syracuse University, where he earned his MFA in Film
Directing. While at Syracuse, he directed three short films about
memory and fate, Playback (1996), Memento (1997), and Views (1999),
which won numerous awards at film festivals both in Korea and
abroad.Yoon returned to Korea in 2001, and first taught in the film
department of Hoseo University. He then made his feature directorial
debut with Sorum (meaning "gooseflesh" in Korean). About damaged
people living in a dilapidated apartment complex (particularly a taxi
driver who has an affair with a battered housewife, played by Kim
Myung-min and Jang Jin-young), local critics praised Sorum as a
stylish, atmospheric, deeply challenging, and intelligently written
horror film. Yoon won Best New Director at the Busan Film Critics
Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards, while Sorum won three awards at
Fantasporto, including Best Director for Yoon, Best Actress for Jang,
and the Special Jury Prize.For his next film, biopic Blue Swallow
(2005), Yoon again cast Jang in the leading role as Park Kyung-won, a
real-life Korean pioneering female aviator who lived in the 1920s and
1930s (the film is named after Park's beloved biplane). Yoon proved
that he could handle an ambitious, big-budget project, and the â‚©9.5
billion (US$6+ million) blockbuster had overseas locations in Japan,
El Mirage (California), and Changchun (China), included 1,100
CGI-enhanced aerial scenes, and employed 1,000 extras. But the film
became mired in controversy when certain conservative internet
reporters accused Park of being a pro-Japanese collaborator and
alleged that the film had whitewashed its protagonist, to which Yoon
responded, "I don't have any intention to embellish her or depict her
as a independence fighter in my film. I just wanted to show a tragedy
of a woman who had to choose her dream over her country." Despite
excellent reviews and Park's biographer pointing out factual errors in
these accusations, it resulted in the under-performance of Blue
Swallow at the box office.
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