Netflix announces documentary on ‘Parasite’ director Bong Joon Ho

Netflix are set to release a new documentary on the Oscar-winning director of Parasite, Bong Joon Ho. Production is underway on the feature aiming to shed light on the life and work of the South Korean filmmaker.

Known for features like Mother, Okja, Snowpiercer and The Host, the director has broken free from the shackles of an international cult status to make his mark on Hollywood with Mickey7 and another unnamed project on the way. 

The feature titled Yellow Door: Looking for Bong’s Unreleased Short Film, follows the quest to track down his mysterious first project, Looking for Paradise, which never came to see the light of day. 

Using this as the crux, the feature looks to explore the inspirations behind the works that followed. In doing so, it also looks at the billowing cinephile scene in the region with director Lee Hyuk-Rae looking at the nation’s cinematic development. 

Thus, it is, in part, an investigation into an elusive artwork and the enigmatic director behind it, but also an exploration of an entire country’s emerging culture from K-Pop to Dreamworks and Oscar-winning hits. 

“While many believe director Bong’s first film to be the 1994 short ‘White Man,’ his real first film is actually the short filmed with stop-motion techniques, ‘Looking for Paradise.’ This 22-minute film was screened for some 10 members of cinephile club Yellow Door at Christmas 1992, and has never been seen since,” Netflix said in the announcement.

As of yet, no release date has been announced for the film, but it has been confirmed that it is already in production.