Han Jaerim, born in 1975, graduated in 1998 from the Seoul Institute of the Arts before entering the film industry as a co-writer and first assistant director on <Natural City> (2003). After he and Go Yoonhee won second place in a screenwriting contest held by KOFIC, he developed the script and eventually used it for his debut feature <Rules of Dating> (2005). An anti-romantic comedy, the film sparked controversy in Korea due to its depiction of what amounts to se...More

Han Jaerim, born in 1975, graduated in 1998 from the Seoul Institute of the Arts before entering the film industry as a co-writer and first assistant director on <Natural City> (2003). After he and Go Yoonhee won second place in a screenwriting contest held by KOFIC, he developed the script and eventually used it for his debut feature <Rules of Dating> (2005). An anti-romantic comedy, the film sparked controversy in Korea due to its depiction of what amounts to sexual harassment and abuse, sexually explicit language and a blunt look at the dynamics in a relationship, but it resonated with the local audience and became a sleeper hit. This allowed Park Haeil to shake off his chaste boy image, and for Han to make a name for himself, winning several awards including Best New Director at the Grand Bell Awards and Best Screenplay at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Having come to the foreground as one of the most promising new directors, expectations were high for his next work and <The Show Must Go On> (2006) lived up to them. Starring Song Kangho, the film was invited to the Zabaltegi Pearls section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival and picked up Best Film at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics’ Awards. After he failed to secure financing for a superhero film project that was close to his heart, he returned as one of the executive producers on Roh Deok’s break-up comedy <Very Ordinary Couple> (2012). Han jumped back into the director’s chair with the period drama film <The Face Reader> (2013). The film, which marked his second collaboration with Song Kangho, easily outweighed the competition as it accumulated a whopping 9.1 million admissions at the local box office and nabbed several awards, including Best Film and Best Director at the 50th Grand Bell Film Awards. Once he established his own production company Woojoo Film, he teamed up again with ROH to produce this time the thriller <The Exclusive : Beat the Devil’s Tattoo> (2015), before directing himself <The King> (2016), a crime drama led by ZO In-sung and JUNG Woo-sung. His latest directing effort, <Emergency Declaration> is a star-studded disaster action film that debuted in Cannes in 2021.Less