Bong Joon Ho

Dissident Cinema

BY KAREN HAN; FOREWORD BY DAVID LOWERY; ILLUSTRATED BY LITTLE WHITE LIES

The first illustrated critical monograph of Academy Award–winning writer/director Bong Joon Ho, the visionary behind films such as Parasite, Snowpiercer, Okja, and The Host

FOREIGN RIGHTS SOLD

Complex Chinese (Domain Publishing Company)

Simplified Chinese (Posts & Telecommunications Press)

Selling Points

ACADEMY AWARD–WINNING

SUBJECT: Bong won the Academy Award for best director at the 2019 Oscars, cementing him as one of the preeminent directors in the world. This win also created an influx of interest in his larger body of work and has driven many cinephiles to seek out and reflect on his entire career.

SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP: Abrams and Little White Lies have partnered on three director monographs and are excited to be profiling a non–American director for the first time.

Brilliantly illustrated and designed by the London–based film magazine

Little White Lies, Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema examines the career of the South Korean writer/director, who has been making critically acclaimed feature films for more than two decades. First breaking out into the international scene with festival–favorite Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Bong then set his sights on the story of a real–life serial killer in 2003’s Memories of Murder and once again won strong international critical attention. But it was Bong’s first English–language film, Snowpiercer (2013)—set on a post–apocalyptic train where class divisions erupt into class warfare—that brought his work outside of the South Korean and film festival markets and onto the stage of global commercial cinema.

It was then Bong’s 2019 black comedy/thriller Parasite that took his career to new heights, winning the Palme d’Or with a unanimous vote, as well as Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. Parasite’s jarring shifts in tone—encompassing darkness, drama, slapstick, and black humor—and its critiques of late capitalism and American imperialism are in conversation with Bong’s entire body of work, and this mid–career monograph will survey the entirety of that work, including his short films, to flesh out the stories behind the films with supporting analytical text and interviews with Bong’s key collaborators. The book also explores Bong’s rise in the cultural eye of the West, catching up readers with his career before his next masterpiece arrives.

Karen Han is a Korean American culture writer and screenwriter whose work can be found in outlets such as the New York Times, the Atlantic, Vanity Fair, VICE, the Village Voice, New York Magazine, and Slate. She has also appeared on television and radio as a critic on Good Morning America, Amanpour, NPR, and WNYC. She lives in Los Angeles.

David Lowery is a filmmaker whose work includes Pioneer, A Ghost Story, Pete's Dragon, and The Green Knight

UPCOMING FILM: Bong’s follow–up to the Academy Award–winning Parasite is in development, making his name a constant fixture on film news sites and driving fan speculation and excitement.

SPECIFICATIONS

*Full-color illustrations throughout

* 272 pages

* WIDTH: 9" - 229mm

* HEIGHT: 10 7/8" - 276mm

* Hardcover POB

PUB MONTH: NOVEMBER 2022

FILM, POP CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT, AAPI HISTORY & CULTURE

ISBN 978-1-4197-5812-6

US $45.00

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