Hong Sang-soo

Hong Sang-soo, born in 1960, is a South Korean auteur whose 33 films by 2025 are defined by their spontaneous shooting style and intimate, often improvised narratives. Set in quotidian locales like cafes and apartment stairwells, his films capture characters—often filmmakers and actors—navigating relationships and conversations over soju. With a budget typically under $100,000, Hong’s single-shot scenes and on-set script changes evoke comparisons to Eric Rohmer’s work, though Hong’s own allusions to Rohmer add a meta-layer to his domestic realism.