Early directing work

Na began making short films before he would go on to make his large feature films. Na's debut short film was titled 5 Minutes (2003). It was until his second short film that Na started to gain recognition with the release of his short film A Perfect Red Snapper Dish (2005). Na won best film in The Extreme Nightmare section at the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival. He would then go on to make his third short film, Sweat (2007) that would win the best short film director prize at the Grand Bell Awards and jury prize at the Bucheon International Film Festival awards.

Feature films

Na's debut feature film was titled The Chaser (2008), which was met with critical acclaim as well as commercial success. The Chaser became one of the most watched films in Korea, peaking at the third highest grossing film of 2008.^[8] The film was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival where reviewers hailed it as an “instant classic” in Korean thrillers. The film took home many awards such as the 16th Chunsa Film Art Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay.^[7]

The Yellow Sea was released and entailed a more ambitious vision from Na. The Yellow Sea became the first Korean film to ever have a Hollywood studio collaboration, with the 20th Century Fox studio. Na's second film achieved positive reviews but “lacking” compared to The Chaser.^[9] The film was invited to screen in the Un Certain Regard of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

The follow-up to The Yellow Sea was Na's critically acclaimed third feature film, The Wailing. The film encompasses a deep weave of many themes such as religion, perception, comedy, and horror.^[10] The Wailing succeeded commercially and critically, again winning Na many film wards such as Best Director at the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards, Best of Bucheon award at the Bucheon international fantastic film festival, the top film of the year of the 36th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, and many more. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was shortly released onto streaming services.

Other projects

Na teamed up with Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun, most known for the films Shutter (2004) and Alone (2007). Na acted as the producer and screenwriter for Pisanthanakun's The Medium, a supernatural horror mockumentary. The film premiered at the 25th Bucheon international fantastic film festival on 11 July 2021.^[10] When writing the story, Na explained in an interview that The Medium was initially a sequel to The Wailing with Hwang Jung-min's shaman character. However, this rendition did not come to light. As quoted by Na himself, “The Medium has no relation to The Wailing.” ^[11]

Future Projects

Na claimed to have written many scripts during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview, Na summed up his working flow as, “Whenever I finish a film, I don't want to go anywhere near another one.” These words have proved true by his slow release of films. Despite being in the film industry for over fifteen years, he only has three feature films to his name.^[11] In March 2023, it was announced that his next project, Hope, will be released in 2024.^[12]

Feature film

Short film