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Byun Young-joo

Byun Young-joo

Director and writer · Born December 20, 1966 (59) · Seoul, South Korea

She is a founding member of the women's feminist film collective "Bariteo," which was established in 1989. She worked as a cinematographer on Even Little Grass Has Its Own Name (dir. Kim So-young, 1989), a short film about gender discrimination at work, and My Children (dir. Doe Sung-hee, 1990), a documentary film about childcare in a poor neighborhood. Her first documentary Women Being in Asia (1993) centers on the sex trade in Asia, particularly the sex tourism of Jeju Island.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
December 20, 1966 (59)
From
Seoul, South Korea
Works as
Director and writer
Titles
4 on MovieCove · 13 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Up 130% in 30 days

What are Byun Young-joo's films like?

Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Self.

Themes

share of theme weight
Morality
36%
Self
25%
Bonds
19%
Survival
8%
Society
8%
Ideas
5%

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Tense
4
Melancholic
3
Dread
1
Contemplative
1
Romantic
1

How their films linger

Thought-provoking3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Byun Young-joo's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Byun Young-joo's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

13 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 9 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Queen Mantis(2025)

    Show 8 episodes · Director · Creator

    Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all shows

  • Black Out(2024)

    Show 14 episodes · Director · Creator

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all shows

  • While you are tempted (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Show 37 episodes · Actor

  • Helpless(2012)

    Director · Camera Operator · Writer

    Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films

  • Flying Boys (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)

    Director

  • Repatriation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)

    Cinematographer

  • Ardor(2002)

    Director · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films

  • My Own Breathing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)

    Director · Cinematographer

  • Habitual Sadness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Director · Producer

  • The Murmuring (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)

    Director · Writer

  • A Woman Being in Asia (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor

  • Even Little Grass Has Its Own Name (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Cinematographer · Screenplay

  • A Mark Against Thee (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

Career shape

A full career of 14 titles, 13 of them dated from 1989 to 2025.

Biggest box office

Helpless (2012)

$16M worldwide

Highest rated

Black Out (2024)

Midcredits 89th

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting2 of 14: 2 only acting, 0 with another roleDirecting10 of 14: 2 only directing, 8 with another roleWriting4 of 14: 0 only writing, 4 with another roleProducing1 of 14: 0 only producing, 1 with another roleCinematography4 of 14: 1 only cinematography, 3 with another roleEditing1 of 14: 0 only editing, 1 with another roleOther crew3 of 14: 0 only other crew, 3 with another role

14 titles, 9 with more than one role — directing and cinematography overlap on 2 of them.

By decade

1980s1 · crew1990s3 · crew2000s4 · crew2010s2 · 1 acting · 1 crew2020s3 · 1 acting · 2 crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

Who does Byun Young-joo work with?

People who share at least 2 of Byun Young-joo's MovieCove titles; Jo Sung-ha shares the most, 2.