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.

Brilliantly illustrated and designed by the London-based film magazine Little White Lies, Dissident Cinema examines the career of the South Korean writer/director, who has been making critically acclaimed feature films for more than two decades.

“The self-professed founder of the “Bong hive,” as the auteur’s fans call themselves, Han pinpoints not only artistic tics and influences, but also the historical, political and cultural contexts that could go unnoticed by American eyes. Alongside glimpses of maquettes, concept art and Bong’s graphic-novel-like storyboards, collaborators testify to his sense of play. “It’s just constant silliness,” the actress Tilda Swinton tells Han. “I don’t know if I’ve worked in that way with anyone else.” – Read the rest of the New York Times review

Karen Han is a Korean American film and culture writer who has been a contributor to outlets such as the New York Times, the Atlantic, Vanity Fair, VICE, the Village Voice, New York Magazine, and Vulture, and she was a Documentary Feature Competition Juror for SXSW in 2019. She became a culture writer for Vox in July 2018, moving over to Polygon in November of 2018. She lives in Los Angeles.