## Director Shin Seong-hoon, Acclaimed Filmmaker, Faced Industryโค Struggles Before Passing
Shin Seong-hoon, โthe 40-year-old director celebrated for โhis โคaward-winning film *Thank You for โJjajangmyeon*, passed away in May. โPrior to his disappearance and subsequent death, Director Shin openly discussed the meaningful โfinancial and professional challenges โfaced by independent filmmakers in South Korea.
Director shin explained the precarious โnature โof a career in film, stating, “If you don’t make commercial films โconsistently, itS not easy to continueโข workingโ asโฃ a director. Among short and independent film directors,there are probably many people who have a harder time than me. Everyone is just speechless. Until you start working in โcommercial films, you have to live likeโ a war every day.โฃ If you don’tโ make films โconsistently, we can’t make a living.”
The financial strain became so acute that Director Shin recentlyโ tookโค on aโ part-time job loading and unloading parcels. He described the โฃphysical toll, saying, “After working for a day, it wasn’t easy. It โhurt like my whole body was broken.Every time I wentโ to โขthe bathroom, โI got a ‘hyeonta’. When I โขreturned home after โคwork, I thought, ‘Isn’t it the pathโข to becomingโ a director anymore?'”
Directorโฃ Shin also spoke of a broader sense of disillusionment โwithin the independent film community.โข He noted that many directors shared similar struggles, and expressed feelings of hurt and โขbetrayal stemmingโค from collaborative relationships. “It’s just that not everyone is good at sharing โdeep stories, and the โคdirectors Iโ frequently enough communicated โwiht also have a hard time. We all have theโ same โคconcerns in the same surroundingsโฆThere are times when delivery isโ not possible. That’s why people leave repeatedly, andโ it โคseems like a lot โof โemotions have โcome and gone over the past few days,” he shared.Director Shin began his โขentertainment careerโข as aโ singer in 2002,โ later taking on minor acting roles. He achieved critical acclaim with *Thank You for jjajangmyeon* in 2022,winning both the Best Director and Best Picture awards at the 7th Hollywood Bluebird Film Festival.Theโข film wentโ on to receive a total of 81 awards from various film festivals. Actress Hyunyoung,who appeared in the film as a talent donation,won the Best Supporting Actressโข Award in the Short Film Category at the ‘3rd Louiveโ Buรฑuel Memorial Awards’ at โคthe โFrench Film Festival. Director Shin praised Hyunyoung’s dedication, noting her “deep sincerity” and “deeper โขunderstanding ofโ movies than expected,” recalling her resilience during challenging filming conditions.
His subsequent โfilms, โ*Minors* (released last year) and *God’s Choice* (released in February), also garnered recognition and awards at international filmโข festivals. Director Shin’sโฃ finalโค project, โค*Minors 2*, is currentlyโ in post-production โand was originally โขslated for release in the second half of this year.
[Image of Director Shin Seong-hoon from Light Culture House] โ/Photo = Light Culture House