A son of Korean immigrants, Chung grew up on a small farm in rural
Arkansas and then attended Yale University, majoring in Ecology. During
his senior year, Chung dropped his plans for medical school and turned
to filmmaking. He studied film at the University of Utah, earning his
MFA in 2004.
Chung's first film, Munyurangabo, premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film
Festival to great acclaim. Variety called the film "an astonishing and
thoroughly masterful debut;" American critic Roger Ebert called it "a
beautiful and powerful film - a masterpiece." His second film, Lucky
Life, was developed at the Cinefondation at the Cannes Film Festival
and premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and 2010 Torino Film
Festival.
Chung resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Valerie. In 2007, he
partnered with local filmmakers in Rwanda to create Almond Tree Films
Rwanda, a successful film production company and academy in Rwanda.