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My Name

Forum 2026
© Let’s Films & Aura Pictures
South Korea, 1998. While the country moves closer towards democracy, Young-oak remains at odds with his female-connotated name while attending a boy’s school where the air is thick with testosterone. The young man is struggling to fit in and find a new name among corrupt teachers and the teenagers’ violent power games, which are as subtle as they are extreme. Behind his mother Jeong-sun’s seemingly unflappable exterior, a past long repressed is reemerging, which she is reluctant to face. Yet confrontation is unavoidable – and it leads back to the national tragedy surrounding the Jeju Uprising of April 3, 1948. With suspense effects and a form of reenactment which distorts the meaning of the images, South Korea’s left-wing directorial icon Chung Ji-young channels the violent state of his country (past and present) into an identity drama. At different points in life, mother and son are both looking for their place within a society of taboos and fixed roles. Traumas come to the surface, the silenced and the repressed. At the end is the documentary image of a monument – as a sign of political topicality.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Chung Ji-young (Director, Screenplay), Kim Sung-hyun (Screenplay), Kim Hyun-woo (Screenplay)
with Yeom Hye-ran, Shin Woo-bin, Choi Jun-woo, Park Ji-bin, Kim Gyu-ri South Korea 2026 Korean 120' Colour World premiere

With

  • Yeom Hye-ran
  • Shin Woo-bin
  • Choi Jun-woo
  • Park Ji-bin
  • Kim Gyu-ri

Crew

Director Chung Ji-young
Screenplay Kim Sung-hyun, Kim Hyun-woo, Chung Ji-young
Cinematography Kim Hyung-koo
Editing Lee Kang-il
Music Shin Min
Sound Design Kim Suk-won
Production Design Lee Kang-il
Costumes Kim Ha-kyoung
Make-Up Kim Hyun-jung
Producers Kim Soon-ho, Jeong Sang-min, Yi Jong-ho, Kim Yeong-hwan, Park Sun-hwoo
Executive Producer Kim Hye-jun
Co-Producer Jung Sung-jin

Produced by

Let's Films

Seoul, South Korea

Aura Pictures

Goyang, South Korea

Co-produced by

M83

Seoul, South Korea

World Sales

M-Line Distribution

Seoul, South Korea

Photos

Chung Ji-young

© Aura Pictures

Chung Ji-young is a key figure of 1990s Korean cinema, recognised for his socially grounded films and influential role in industry activism. He established his reputation with North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1990) and White Badge (1992), while leading movements such as the resistance to Hollywood direct distribution and the safeguarding of the screen quota system. His later works sharpened his examination of institutional power. Since the 2010s, Chung has focused on the dignity of individuals confronting entrenched networks of wealth and authority outside formal democracy.

Filmography

1982 Angaeneun yeojacheoleom sogsaginda (Mist Whispers like Women) 1984 Chueogeui bitt (The Light of Recollection) 1987 Geolieui agsa (A Street Musician) · Uigiui yeoja (A Woman on the Verge) 1988 Sanbaeam (Mountain Snake) · Yeojaga sumneun sup (A Forest Where a Woman Breathes) 1990 Nambugun (North Korean Partisan in South Korea) 1991 Sansani buseojin ilemiyeo (Beyond the Mountain) 1992 Hayan chonjaeng a.k.a. Hayanjeonjaeng (White Badge) 1994 Hollywood Kid Eu Saeng-ae (Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid) 1996 Maegjuga ae-inboda Joh-en 7gaji i-yu (7 Reasons Why Beer is Better Than a Lover); co-directed by Jang Gil-su, Jang Hyeon-su, Jong-won Park, Kang Woo-suk, Kim Yoo-jin, Park Cheol-su 1997 Blackjack 1998 Ga a.k.a Kka (Naked Being) 2011 Ma-seu-teo-keul-lae-seu-ui san-chaek (A Journey with Korean Directors); co-directed by Lee Doo-yong, Lee Jang-ho, Park Cheol-su · Yong-hwa-pan (Ari Ari the Korean Cinema); co-directed by Heo Chul · Bu-reo-jin hwa-sal (Unbowed) 2012 Namyeong-dong 1985 (National Security) 2019 Black Money 2022 So-neyon-deul (The Boys) 2026 My Name

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026