Jang Hoon (; born May 4, 1975) is a South Korean film director. He directed the films Rough Cut (2008), Secret Reunion (2010), The Front Line (2011), and A Taxi Driver (2017).
Career
2005–2010: Rough Cut and Secret Reunion Jang Hoon (along with Jang Cheol-soo and Juhn Jai-hong) worked as an assistant director under Kim Ki-duk. His debut film Rough Cut (2008), about a gangster who wants to become an actor and an actor who thinks he is as tough as a gangster, was written and produced by Kim. Rough Cut was much more commercially oriented than Kim's own movies, and the star power of its two leading actors So Ji-sub and Kang Ji-hwan propelled the indie to more than one million admissions, resulting in a profit 10 times its low budget.
Jang's second feature, Secret Reunion (2010), benefited from the director's populist sensibility. A story about two intelligence agents, one from South Korea and the other from the North (played by Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won, respectively), who approach each other in acts of espionage only to develop an unlikely friendship, the film sold 5.5 million tickets, making it the second highest grossing Korean film of that year.
2011–present: Critical and commercial success His third film, The Front Line, was a large-scale war movie that came out during the 2011 summer blockbuster season. Starring Go Soo and Shin Ha-kyun, the film was the most well-received among the ample number of Korean War-themed films and TV dramas commemorating the 60th anniversary of the war. Through the guise of a mystery narrative, the film revolved around the story of South and North Korean soldiers carrying out meaningless sacrifices trying to capture a nameless hill. It was selected as South Korea's submission to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but did not make the final shortlist.
Jang became the subject of controversy when former mentor Kim Ki-duk's documentary-style self-portrait Arirang was released. In the Cannes award-winning film, the elder cineaste explicitly criticized him as "a betrayer" after Jang signed with the film production company Showbox/Mediaplex. Regarding the matter, Jang said, "I hope director Kim can find consolation through Arirang. He is a great teacher and I still respect him very much. I feel very sorry as a pupil of his." In 2012 Jang, Kang Hyeong-cheol and E J-yong made short films for Samsung Galaxy Note's ambitious PPL-film project Cine Note starring Ha Jung-woo. Actor Ko Chang-seok has appeared in all four of Jang's feature films in supporting roles.
In May 2025, Jang's upcoming film Canvas of Blood was one of the nine films granted by the Korean Film Council with financial support as part of their “Mid-Budget Korean Film Production Support” project. In August 2025, actors Kim Nam-gil and Park Bo-gum were confirmed to star in the film.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNoteEnglishKorean 2001 Hera Purple 헤라 퍼플 assistant director2004Samaritan Girl사마리아assistant directorLove, So Divine신부수업assistant director3-Iron빈집assistant director2006Time시간assistant director, assistant editor2005The Bow활assistant director2008Rough Cut영화는 영화다director, script editor2010Secret Reunion의형제director, script editor2011The Front Line고지전director2012Cine Note 시네 노트 "Lost Number"co-directorshort film2017A Taxi Driver택시 운전사directorTBACanvas of Blood몽유도원도director
Accolades Awards and nominations Award Year Category Nominated work ResultAsian World Film Festival2017 Best FilmA Taxi Driver Humanitarian Award Baeksang Arts Awards 2018 Grand Prize (Film) Best Film Best Director (Film) Blue Dragon Film Awards 2011 Best Film The Front Line 2017 A Taxi Driver Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Film Best Director Buil Film Awards 2011 Best Film The Front Line 2017Best FilmA Taxi Driver Audience Award Buil Readers' Jury Award Chunsa Film Art Awards 2017 Best Director Director's Cut Awards 2017 Special Mentions Grand Bell Awards 2011 Best Film The Front Line Best Director 2017 Best Film A Taxi Driver Best Director Technical Award Best Planning Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2011 Best Film The Front Line Best Director 2017 Top 10 FilmsA Taxi Driver Korea Culture & Entertainment Awards 2017 Best Film Best Director (Film) Korea World Youth Film Festival 2017 Favorite Director The Seoul Awards 2017 Grand Prize (Film) Udine Far East Film Festival 2012 Audience Award The Front Line
Listicles +Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placementPublisherYearListiclePlacementSisa Journal2017 Next Generation Leader—Culture, Arts, Sports
Notes
References
External links
장훈 at Cine21 장훈 at Naver