Los Angeles-based Gina Kim is one of the few South Korean filmmakers to produce works in Hollywood and her home country. Her award-winning films reimagine cinematic storytelling across different genres and platforms, developing a unique transnational perspective centered on female protagonists. Kim’s five feature films and works of media art have screened at over 150 prestigious international film festivals and venues such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Sundance, as well as MoMA, Centre Pompidou, and the Smithsonian. Kim’s films have been theatrically released to critical acclaim in Europe, Asia, and the US. Praised by Le Figaro as a “fearless feminist who conceals an extreme sensitivity,” Kim’s Invisible Light (2003) was selected as one of the 10 best films of 2003 by Film Comment. Never Forever (2007), starring Jung-woo Ha and Vera Farmiga, was the first co-production between the United States and South Korea. Final Recipe (2014), starring Michelle Yeoh and Henry Lau, was wide-released in China in more than three thousand theaters. As an academic, Kim was the first Asian woman in her department at Harvard, and now a professor at UCLA in the department of Film, TV, and Digital Media. In 2019, Kim’s retrospective titled “Desire and Diaspora” was held at Neues Asiatisches Kino in Munich, Germany.
Throughout her film and video work, Gina Kim (b. 1973, South Korea) realizes a compelling and provocative vision of the modern female nomad—one who travels fluidly not only between Asia and the United States, as Kim herself does, but between multiple languages, film genres, and personal, local and cinematic histories. In Kim’s various renderings, the female nomad becomes both the sharp-eyed cartographer and the passionate dismantler of imposed boundaries, most notably those between the cerebral and the bodily, desire and obligation, and art and life. Film Comment writes, “Kim has a terrific eye, a gift for near-wordless storytelling, a knack for generating a tense, gliding rhythm between images and sounds, shots and scenes, and for yielding a quality of radiance in her actors.” Martin Scorsese has described her work as a “moving experience [in which] the performances are wonderful and touching, and the style...intense and very precise.”
Kim began shooting the groundbreaking Gina Kim’s Video Diary in 1995, upon moving to the United States for her MFA. Screened at the Berlin Film Festival, Gina Kim’s Video Diary was described in the catalogue as “an extremely personal account of one woman's fears, fantasies and projections” that “provides the viewer with an unusual self-portrait that is deeply unsettling, moving and life-affirming." Now it is frequently cited as a classic in the genre of personal documentaries. In Adventure of Perceptions: Cinema as Exploration (California, 2009), film scholar Scott MacDonald provides an in-depth study of the video, calling it “a subtle, often troubling, generally exquisite, … coming of age story.”
Following the success of Gina Kim’s Video Diary, Kim began making fiction films to further many of the same concerns as her documentary work. Invisible Light (2003) tracks the physical and psychological journeys of two Korean/Korean-American women, Do-hee and Ga-in. Although the women’s paths appear divergent, with Do-hee pregnant and on the road, and Ga-in shut inside her home with an eating disorder, Kim’s sensitive eye shows them to be remarkably and radically akin. Cahiers du Cinema calls Invisible Light “a little block of feminine hardness and repressed anger,” and Senses of Cinema asserts that “Kim’s rigorous mise-en-scene matches the unflinching singularity of her vision.” Film Comment selected the film as one of the "10 Best Films of 2003" along with Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and David Cronenberg’s Spider.
Kim’s next film, Never Forever, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for its Grand Jury Prize. Starring the acclaimed Vera Farmiga and Ha Jung-woo, Never Forever engages the generic conventions of melodrama to examine facets of gender, sexuality, race and class for both women and Koreans in America. The renowned music composer Michael Nyman (Piano, Jane Campion) scored the film and celebrated filmmaker Lee Chang-dong produced the film. Never Forever was the first co-production between the United States and South Korea, and it inspired Le Figaro to describe Kim as a “pétroleuse, a feminist who is fearless...But behind such pretensions, we believe she conceals an extreme sensitivity. The proof is in the images.” Kim was nominated as Best New Director for the Grand Bell Awards (South Korea’s Academy Awards), and the film was nominated for Choonsa Awards in Best Picture category. Never Forever won the Jury Prize at the 2007 Deauville American Film Festival.
Following a commission by the Korea Foundation, Kim returned to her documentary work and created a video essay called Faces of Seoul. Charting her journey to Korea after living for many years in the United States, Kim composes a breathtakingly candid and intimate portrait of the ever-changing city. Faces of Seoul combines both original and archival footage, including video taken by Kim herself of the infamous Sampoong Department Store collapse in 1995. Faces of Seoul premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, alongside Peter Greenway’s The Marriage. Kim also was featured in L’Uomo Vogue as one of the “Talents of Venice” and was invited to be a jury member in Orrizonti feature competition. In 2018, Kim and L’Ateliers des Cahiers published Seoul, Visages d’une Ville, a trilingual multimedia photobook essay that incorporates selected images from the film and Kim’s original voiceovers to adapt the meditative city film into a reading and auditory-visual experience.
Final Recipe is the first English-language film made by an Asian director with all Asian stars. A pioneering China-Korea co-production starring Michelle Yeoh, the film can be seen as Kim’s response to any sense of a single dominating Asian culture, as well as Hollywood’s past appropriations of Asia. With actors and crew from all over the continent, such China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand, Kim seeks a Pan-Asian spirit arising from common ground: the valuing of food and family. Mark (Henry Lau) travels from Singapore to Shanghai to participate in a Pan-Asian Masterchef-like competition, where he encounters cuisine and characters originating from Japan, Korea, Thailand and Australia. The Hollywood Reporter commends Kim for how “she conjures a non-exotic piece out of a territory-trotting narrative, where every place is made to seem like home.” Final Recipe screened at the Berlin International Film Festival as the opening film for the Culinary Cinema. The film subsequently wide-released in over three thousand theaters in China.
Since 2017, Kim has turned to immersive technology to further investigate the issue of ethics of representation. Kim’s US military comfort women trilogy transforms the controversial issue of crimes by the US military personnel stationed in South Korea into an embodied experience of a viewer. The first piece of the trilogy Bloodless (2017) traces the last day in the life of a sex worker who was brutally murdered by a US solider in South Korea in 1992. Shot at the actual military brothel, the film won the Best VR Story Award at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, Best VR Film Award at the 58th Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Best Virtual Reality Short Film at the 15th Bogotá Short Film Festival. Filmmaker Magazine selected Bloodless as the Best VR Storytelling of 2017, praising the film as a “12-minute immersive stunner.” Next, Tearless (2020) premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won the Best Immersive Work Award at Geneva International Film Festival. The final work in the trilogy, Comfortless, will premiere in 2023. Kim’s immersive work has already been the subject of a retrospective by the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. In fall 2022, “Remembering Oblivion: Immersive Cinema of Gina Kim” showcased Bloodless, Tearless, and two augmented reality (AR) installation projects on the hidden history of U.S. military comfort women in Korea.
Kim is deeply invested in cinema’s place within academia and as a powerful educational force. Her work has been recognized for its use of research and visual methodologies in narrative and documentary cinema. Between 2004-2007, and 2013-2014, Kim taught film production and theory classes at Harvard University, being the first Asian woman teaching in her department. Kim’s Korean Cinema course was also the first of its kind taught at an Ivy League college, and in 2005 she curated the series “Visions from the South: South Korean Films from 1960- 2003” at the Harvard Film Archive. Following Kim’s propensity for “firsts,” and her pursual of necessary but neglected journeys, this series was the first Korean cinema retrospective ever screened in New England. In 2014, Kim was presented with a Certificate of Teaching Excellence as recognition of her accomplishments in furthering undergraduate education and diversity of the university’s curriculum during her years at Harvard.
In 2014, Kim joined the faculty of the Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media at University of California, Los Angeles. She continues to give public lectures at educational institutions worldwide to provide insight into international co-production and promote the significance of film in issues of gender, transnationalism, and social justice. In 2018, Variety magazine listed Kim as one of the “Top Teachers in Film, TV” noting Kim’s “keen understanding of the future of entertainment technology”. In 2022, she received the International Visual Sociology Association’s Anti-colonialism & Anti-racism (ACAR) Award for Visual Activism.
Education
MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Film & Video Dept. 1999
BFA, Seoul National University, Fine Arts Dept. 1996
Positions Held
Professor, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Theater, Film, and Television, 2017-Present
Assistant Professor, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Theater, Film, and Television, 2014-2017
Full-time lecturer, Harvard University, Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, 2004-2007 & 2013-2014
Lecturer, Korean National University of the Arts, School of Film and Multimedia (Seoul, Korea), Spring 2004.
Lecturer, Hanguk University of Foreign Studies, Communications Department (Seoul, Korea), Fall 2000.
Lecturer, Kwang-woon University, Communications Department (Seoul, Korea), Fall 2000.
Film Critic, www.artcenter.org, Fall 1999-Spring 2000.
Awards and Recognitions
Impact Award, Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories, 2023 ACAR Award for Visual Activism, International Visual Sociology Association, 2022 Reflet d’Or Best Immersive Film Award, Geneva International Film Festival, Tearless, 2021
“The 60 Best Asian American Movies of All Time, Never Forever,” Rotten Tomatoes, 2020
“The 20 Best Asian American Films – beyond top 20, Never Forever & Invisible Light,” Los Angeles Times, 2020
Gina Kim Retrospective; “The Embodied Cinema of Gina Kim,” Duke University, 2020
“Gina Kim: Desire & Diaspora; A Retrospective,” Neues asiatisches Kino, 2019
“Five South Korean Talents to Watch,” The Hollywood Reporter, 2018
"Ten Top Teachers in Film, TV, and Entertainment,” Variety, 2018
Digital Dozen: Breakthrough in Storytelling Award, Digital Storytelling Lab at Columbia University School of the Arts, Bloodless, 2018
Best VR Storytelling of 2017, Filmmaker Magazine, Bloodless, 2017
Santa Lucía Award for Best Virtual Reality Short Film, Bogotá Short Film Festival, Bloodless, 2017
Film Centre Serbia Best VR Film Award , Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Bloodless, 2017
Letter from South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Bloodless, 2017
Best VR Story Award, Venice International Film Festival, Bloodless, 2017
Official Selection, Asian Project Market at Busan International Film Festival, Paradise Lost, 2016
Opening Night Film, USA Film Festival, Final Recipe, 2015
Teaching Excellence Award, Harvard University, 2015
Opening Night Film for Culinary Cinema, Berlin International Film Festival, Final Recipe, 2014
Closing Night Film, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Final Recipe, 2013
Opening Film for Culinary Cinema, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Final Recipe, 2013
Opening Film, Hawaii International Film Festival, Final Recipe, 2013
Talents of Venice, L'Uomo Vogue (Vogue Man, Italy), 2009
Best New Director Nominee, Daejong Award, 2008
Best New Director Nominee, Choonsa Award, 2008
Special Mention, Verona International Film Festival, Never Forever, 2008
Jury Prize, Deauville American Film Festival, 2007
Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, Harvard University, 2007
Cosmopolitan Korea, "Fun, Fearless Female - Women of the Year 2007"
Film Comment, 10 Best Films of 2003, Invisible Light, 2003
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative Nominee, 2003
Feminist Magazine IF Special Award, Seoul Women's Film Festival, 2003
Honorable Mention, International Women's Film Festival in Seoul, Empty House, 2003
Publication
Seoul, Visages d'une Ville (2017)
Recipient of Center national des arts plastiques Grant (2017)
Recipient of Literature Translation Institute of Korea Grant (2017)
Written by Gina Kim
Edited by Benjamin Joinau
Published by L'Atelier des Cahiers
Multimedia photo book essay based on feature length documentary Faces of Seoul (2009)
Filmography
Tearless (12min, Virtual Reality, 2021)
Recipient of Impact Award, Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories (2023)
Recipient of Best Immersive Work Award at Geneva International Film Festival (2022)
Official Selection, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Aug 2023 (Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Official Selection, Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories, Oct 2022 (Toronto, Canada)
Official Selection, Geneva International Film Festival, Nov 2021 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Official Selection, Venice International Film Festival, Sept 2021 (Venice, Italy)
Official Selection, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, July 2021 (Bucheon, Korea)
Special Screening, Centre PHI, September 2021 (Montréal, Canada)
Special Screening, Sandman Studios, “Sandbox Immersive Festival,” September 2021 (Beijing, China)
Special Screening, MC2: Grenoble, September 2021 (Grenoble, France)
Special Screening, Centquatre-Paris, September 2021 (Paris, France)
Special Screening, Invr.Space, September 2021 (Berlin, Germany)
Special Screening, MEET Digital Culture Center, September 2021 (Milan, Italy)
Special Screening, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini - Laboratorio Aperto di Modena, September 2021 (Modena, Italy)
Special Screening, Museo Nazionale del Cinema, September 2021 (Turin, Italy)
Special Screening, M9 - Museum of the 20th Century, September 2021 (Venice Mestre, Italy)
Special Screening, Eye Filmmuseum, September 2021 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Special Screening, Less Media Group – Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), September 2021 (Moscow, Russia)
Special Screening, Espronceda - Institute of Art & Culture, September 2021 (Barcelona, Spain)
Special Screening, Salon IKSV and Kolektif House (Levent and Maslak) “Euromersive Turkey,” September 2021 (Istanbul, Turkey)
Special Screening, Portland Art Museum & Northwest Film Center, September 2021 (Portland, USA)
Bloodless (12min, Virtual Reality, 2017)
Filmmaker Magazine, Best VR Storytelling of 2017
Recipient of Breakthrough in Storytelling Award, Digital Storytelling Lab at Columbia University School of the Arts (2017)
Recipient of Best VR Story Award at Venice International Film Festival (2017)
Recipient Santa Lucía Award for Best Virtual Reality Short Film at Bogotá Short Film Festival (2017)
Recipient of Film Centre Serbia Best VR Film Award at Thessaloniki International Film Festival (2017)
Recipient of Venta VR Production Grant (2017)
Recipient of Dankook University BK 21 PLUS Production Grant (2017)
Official Selection, Filmteractive Festival, Oct 2019 (Warsaw, Poland)
Official Selection, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Nov 2018 (Winterthur, Switzerland)
Official Selection, Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Oct 2018 (Montreal, Canada)
Official Selection, Kaohsiung Film Festival, Oct 2018 (Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
Official Selection, Astra Film Festival, Oct 2018 (Sibiu, Romania)
Official Selection, Valladolid International Film Festival, Oct 2018 (Valladolid, Spain)
Official Selection, Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Oct 2018 (Jihlava, Czech Republic)
Official Selection, Camden International Film Festival, Sept 2018 (Rockport, USA)
Official Selection, Kino Asia, Sept 2018 (Brno, Czech Republic)
Official Selection, Locarno Film Festival, Aug 2018 (Locarno, Switzerland)
Official Selection, Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival, Jul 2018 (Neuchatel, Switzerland)
Official Selection, Sandbox Immersive Festival, Jun 2018 (Qingdao, China)
Official Selection, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, May 2018 (Los Angeles, USA)
Official Selection, Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, May 2018 (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Official Selection, Paris Virtual Film Festival, Apr 2018 (Paris, France)
Official Selection, Sofia International Film Festival, Mar 2018 (Sofia, Bulgaria)
Official Selection, True/False Film Festival, Mar 2018 (Columbia, USA)
Official Selection, Women's Film Festival, Mar 2018 (Charleroi, Belgium)
Official Selection, Movies that Matter Festival, Mar 2018 (The Hague, The Netherlands)
Official Selection, One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Mar 2018 (Prague, Czech Republic)
Official Selection, Dubai International Film Festival, Dec 2017 (Dubai)
Special Screening, Museum of Modern Art Rio de Janeiro “VFX RIO 2017,” Dec 2017 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Special Screening, Museudo Amanhã “VFX RIO 2017,” Dec 2017 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Official Selection, Bogotá Short Film Festival, Dec 2017 (Bogotá, Colombia)
Official Selection, Geneva International Film Festival, Nov 2017 (Geneva, Switzerland)
Special Screening, Ventana Sur “Trends VR,” Nov 2017 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Special Screening, B3 Biennale, “On Desire,” Nov 2017 (Frankfurt, Germany)
Special Screening, EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam, Nov 2017 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Official Selection, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Nov 2017 (Thessaloniki, Greece)
Official Selection, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Nov 2017 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Official Selection, São Paulo International Film Festival, Oct 2017 (São Paulo, Brazil)
Special Screening, Västsvenska Filmdagarna, “Narrating in VR and 360 Degree Films,” Oct 2017 (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Special Screening, Play 360° VR Cinema, Oct 2017 (Sicily, Italy)
Special Screening, VR Days Europe, Oct 2017 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Official Selection, Busan International Film Festival, Oct 2017 (Busan, Korea)
Official Selection, Milano Film Festival, Oct 2017 (Milano, Italy)
Official Selection, Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Oct 2017 (Sitges, Spain)
Official Selection, Adelaide Film Festival, Oct 2017 (Adelaide, Australia)
Special Screening, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, “Asia Film and Video Forum,” Sept 2017 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, Venice International Film Festival, Sept 2017 (Venice, Italy)
Special Screening, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, July 2017 (Seoul, Korea)
Special Screening, Seoul International Women's Film Festival, June 2017 (Seoul, Korea)
Special Screening, University of California, Los Angeles, “VR Showcase,” June 2017 (Los Angeles, USA)
Special Screening, University of California, Los Angeles, “Colloquium,” May 2017 (Los Angeles, USA)
Final Recipe (97min, HD, 35mm, 2013)
Theatrical distribution in China (Wide-release on 3,240 theaters) in 2016
Inflight distribution worldwide in 2017
Theatrical distirbution in US and Korea in 2018
Official Selection/Opening Night film, USA Film Festival, April 2015 (Dallas, USA)
Official Selection, Febiofest International Film Festival, March 2015 (Prague, Czech Republic)
Official Selection, Victoria Film Festival, February 2015 (Victoria, Canada)
Official Selection, Douro Film Harvest, December 2014 (Porto, Portugal)
Official Selection, Jakarta International Film Festival, November 2014 (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Official Selection, Buenos Aires Korean film festival, October 2014 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Official Selection, Transatlantyk Film Festival, August 2014 (Poznan, Poland)
Special Screening, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, July 2014 (Connecticut, USA)
Official Selection, Seattle International film festival, June 2014 (Seattle, USA)
Official Selection/Closing film, Los Angeles Asian Pacific film festival, May 2014 (Los Angeles, USA)
Official Selection, Miami International film festival, March 2014 (Miami, USA)
Official Selection, TIFF Next Wave Film Festival, February 2014 (Toronto, Canada)
Official Selection/Opening film for Culinary Cinema section, Berlin International film festival, February 2014 (Berlin, Germany)
Official Selection, São Paulo International film festival, October 2013 (São Paulo, Brazil)
Official Selection/Opening film, Hawaii International film festival, October 2013 (Hawaii, USA)
Official Selection/Opening film for Culinary Cinema section, San Sebastian International film festival, September 2013 ( San Sebastian, Spain)
Faces of Seoul (93min, digibeta, 2009)
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Subtitle Translation Support Grant
Recipient of Korea Foundation Media Fellowship
Special Screening, EYE Filmmuseum Amstrerdam, Nov 2017 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Special Screening, Space One Gallery, May 2016 (Seoul, Korea)
Special Screening, DanO Spring Festival, Saint Louis Art Museum, May 2016 (Saint Louis, USA)
Special Screening, Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, “Urbanités Coréennes", April 2016 (Paris, France)
Special Screening, Seoul National University, January 2014 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, New York Asian American Film Festival, March 2012 (New York, USA)
Official Selection, Venice Film festival, September 2009 (Venice, Italy)
Official Selection, Dubai Film festival, December 2009 (Dubai)
Special Screening, Claremont McKenna College, April 2010 (Claremont, USA)
Never Forever (104min, 35mm, 2007)
Recipient of Jury Prize at 2007 Deauville American Film Festival
Nominated for Best New Director, Choonsa Award
Nominated for Best New Director, Grand Bell Award
Recipient of Special Mention at Verona International Film Festival
Recipient of LEF Moving Image Fellowship
Recipient of Harvard Film Study Center Fellowship
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Co-production Award
Theatrical distribution in Korea (wide release), France (wide release), and the US (limited release in 6 cities)
Special Screening, Neues Asiatisches Kino, “Desire & Diaspora, a Retrospective,” Mar 2019 (Munich, Germany)
Special Screening, University of California, Los Angeles, “An Evening With Gina Kim,” October 2015 (Los Angeles, USA)
Special Screening, Harvard University, Korea Institute, 2014 (Cambridge, USA)
Special Screening, Claremont McKenna College, 2009 (Claremont, USA)
Special Screening, Wake Forest University Museum of Anthropology, Jan 2009 (Winston-Salem, USA)
Official Selection, Florence Korean Film Fest, March 2009 (Florence, Italy)
Official Selection, Festival International de Films de Femmes Creteil, March 2009 (Creteil, France)
Official Selection, Braunschweig International Film Festival, November 2008 (Braunschweig, Germany)
Official Selection, Silk Screen Asian Film Festival, May 2008 (Pittsburgh, USA)
Official Selection, Verona International Film Festival, April 2008 (Verona, Italy)
Official Selection, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, March 2008 (San Francisco, USA)
Official Selection, Hawaii International Film Festival, October 2007 (Hawaii, USA)
Official Selection, Deauville American Film Festival, Competition, September 2007 (Deauville, France)
Official Selection, New York Asian American Film Festival, July 2007 (New York, USA)
Special Screening, Harvard Film Archive, May 2007 (Boston, USA)
Special Screening, UCI Film and Video Center, April 2007 (Irvine, USA)
Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival, US Dramatic Competition, January 2007 (Park City, USA)
Invisible Light (geu jip ap) (78min, 35mm, 2003)
Film Comment, 10 Best Films of 2003
Recipient of Feminist Magazine IF Special Award at International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Distribution Grant
Recipient of Coreana Production Grant
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Production Grant
Theatrical distribution in Korea
Special Screening, Neues Asiatisches Kino, “Desire & Diaspora, a Retrospective,” Mar 2019 (Munich, Germany)
Special Screening, Pacific Film Archive, October 2007 (Berkeley, USA)
Special Screening, Hamilton College, April 2007 (New York, USA)
Special Screening, California Institute of the Arts, February 2005 (Valencia, USA)
Special Screening, Harvard Film Archive, November 2004 (Boston, USA)
Special Screening, Korean Film Archive Korean women director retrospective, November 2004 (Seoul, Korea)
Special Screening, Smithsonian Institute Korean Film retrospective, October 2004 (Washington DC, USA)
Special Screening, University of Georgia Korean Film retrospective, September 2004 (Georgia, USA)
Official Selection, Era New Horizons International Film Festival, August 2004 (Warsaw, Poland)
Official Selection, Art Plus Film Festival, August 2004 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, New York Video Festival, July 2004 (New York, USA)
Official Selection, Maine International Film Festival, July 2004 (Maine, USA)
Official Selection, IFP Los Angeles International Film Festival, June 2004 (Los Angeles, USA)
Official Selection, Buenos Aires International Film Festival, April 2004 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Official Selection, Minneapolis International Film Festival, April 2004 (Minneapolis, USA)
Official Selection, International Women's Film Festival in Seoul, Recipient of Feminist Magazine If Special Award, April 2004 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, Chicago Asian American Film and Video Festival, April 2004 (Chicago, USA)
Official Selection, Rotterdam International Film Festival, January 2004 (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Official Selection, Goteborg International Film Festival, January 2004 (Goteborg, Sweden)
Official Selection, Seoul Independent Film Festival, December 2003 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, Torino International Film Festival, November 2003 (Turin, Italy)
Official Selection, Pusan International Film Festival, October 2003 (Pusan, Korea)
Official Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival, September-October 2003 (Vancouver, Canada)
Official Invitation/Closing film, University of Hawaii at Manoa Korean Film Conference, September 2003 (Manoa, Hawaii)
Official Selection, Locarno International Film Festival, August 2003 (Locarno, Switzerland)
Official Selection, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, March 2003 (San Francisco, USA)
Gina Kim’s Video Diary (157 min, VHS, 2002)
Special Screening, Neues Asiatisches Kino, “Desire & Diaspora, a Retrospective,” Mar 2019 (Munich, Germany)
Special Screening, Tokyo New Cinema Jukyu, upcoming July 2014 (Tokyo, Japan)
Official Selection, Torino International Film Festival, November 2003 (Turin, Italy)
Official Selection, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, October 2003 (Yamagata, Japan)
Official Selection, Berlin International Film Festival, February 2003 (Berlin, Germany)
Special Screening, Gallery Wooduk "Self-portrait" Exhibition, October 2002 (Seoul, Korea)
Special Screening, Indievideo Archive "Traces of Everyday" Film Festival, October 2002 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival, September-October 2002 (Vancouver, Canada)
Official Selection, Jeonju International Film Festival, April-May 2002 (Jeonju, Korea)
Morning Becomes Eclectic (17 min, VHS, 2001)
Special Screening, "Slow" exhibition at Shedalle Art Space, October 2002 (Zurich, Switzerland)
Official Selection, Bangkok International Film Festival, November 2001 (Bangkok, Thailand
Official Selection, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, May 2001 (Oberhausen, Germany)
Official Selection, Visual Communications LA Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival, May 2001 (Los Angeles, US)
Empty House (24 minutes, VHS, 1999)
Special Screening, Centre Pompidou, CalArts Programme 2: “Bonheur Domestique,” February 2007 (Paris, France)
Special Screening, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), "TOMORROWLAND: CalArts in Moving Pictures", May-August 2006 (New York, USA)
Official Selection, Seoul International Documentary Film Festival, August 2000 (Seoul, Korea)
Official Selection, Visual Communications LA Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival, Director’s Guild of America, May 2000 (Los Angeles, USA)
Special Screening, New Asian Pacific Cinemas Conference, University of California Irvine, September 1999 (Irvine, USA)
Official Selection, PIA Film Festival Best Korean Short Films Selection, July 1999 (Tokyo, Japan)
Official Selection, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, October 1999 (Yamagata, Japan)
Official Selection/Honorable Mention, Seoul Women’s Film Festival, April 1999 (Seoul, Korea)
Flying Appetite (4 minutes, VHS, 1998)
Special Screening, UC Irvine Film and Video Center <Post-liberation Korean Cinema>, 1998 (Irvine, USA)
Door (6 mintes, VHS, 1997)
Special Screening, California Institute of the Arts, Film Forum, 1997 (Los Angeles, USA)
Walking (4minutes, VHS, 1996)
Passing Eyes (4 minutes, VHS, 1995)
The Picture I Draw (4 minutes, VHS, 1995)
Ok Man, This Is Your World (4 minutes, VHS, 1995)
Heroine (6 minutes, VHS, 1995)
Grants and Fellowships
Recipient of ASC AAPI Policy Initiative Research Award, 2021
Recipient of Center for the Study of Women, University of California, Los Angeles, 2021
Recipient of Institute of American Cultures Research Grant, University of California, Los Angeles, 2021
Recipient of Transdisciplinary Research Acceleration Grant, University of California, Los Angeles, 2020
Recipient of Faculty Research Grant University of California, Los Angeles, 2020
Recipient of Dean’s Vision Fund, University of California, Los Angeles, 2019
Recipient of Faculty Research Grant, University of California, Los Angeles, 2019
Recipient of Arts Initiative Fund, Film Today: Media for Social Change, University of California, Los Angeles, 2018
Recipient of Center national des arts plastiques Grant, 2017
Recipient of Literature Translation Institute of Korea Grant, 2017
Recipient of Venta VR Production Grant, Bloodless, 2017
Recipient of Dankook University BK 21 PLUS Production Grant, Bloodless, 2017
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Center for Korean Studies Grant, 2017
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Institute of American Culture Grant, 2017
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Asian American Studies Center Grant, 2017
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Center for the Study of Women Grant, 2017
Recipient of University of California, Los AngelesFaculty Research Grant, 2017
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Faculty Career Development Award, 2016
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Dean's Vision Fund, 2016
Recipient of University of California, Los Angeles Faculty Research Grant, 2016
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Subtitle Translation Support Grant, Faces of Seoul, 2009
Rockefeller Foundation Media Arts Fellowship Nominee, 2007
Recipient of Korea Foundation Media Fellowship, Faces of Seoul, 2006
Recipient of LEF Moving Image Fellowship, Never Forever, 2006
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Co-production Award, Never Forever, 2006
Recipient of Harvard Film Study Center Fellowship, Never Forever, 2005
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Distribution Grant, Invisible Light, 2003
Recipient of Coreana Production Grant, Invisible Light, 2003
Recipient of KOFIC (Korean Film Council) Production Grant, Invisible Light, 2002
Jury
Jury, Jeonju International Film Festival, Development lab, South Korea, Jan 2021
Jury, Los Angeles International Culture Film Festival, USA, November 2015
Jury, "tvN Campus Debate Battle", South Korea, July 2011
Jury, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Australia, Nov 2009
Jury, Orizzonti Competition, 66th Venice Film Festival, Italy, Sep 2009
Jury, Short Film Competition, Seoul International Film Festival, South Korea, June 2008
Panelist/ Jury, New England Moving Image Fellowship (LEF foundation), USA, April 2005
Jury, Short Film Competition, Torino Film Festival, Italy, November 2003
Public Lectures, Performances, and Services
Council of Advisors, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA, Sep 2021
Panelist, “Food & Family,” Image Movers Film Festival, Asian American Study Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA, Mar 2021
Mentor, Jeonju International Film Festival, Development Lab, Seoul, Korea, Feb 2021
Guest Speaker, Future Storytelling Summer Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media, Los Angeles, USA, Jul 2020
Organizer, Lecture series “How to pitch your project in Hollywood,” Korea Radio Promotion Association, Aug 2020
Guest Speaker, Korea Radio Promotion Association, On-line, Aug 2020
Panelist, “Immersive Live” Marché du Film / Cannes XR, Cannes International Film Festival, On-line, Jun 2020
Co-host/Moderator, Screening of Academy Award nominated short film In the Absence, Darren Star Screening Room, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA, Feb 2020
Host/Moderator, Screening of Ms. Purple by Justin Chon, Darren Star Screening room, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA, Dec 2019
Host/moderator, Screening of Watergate by Charles Ferguson, Darren Star Screening room, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA, Nov 2019
Lecturer, “US Documentary and Diversity,” Korea Radio Promotion Association, Contents Training, Nov 2019
Host/facilitator, Korea Radio Promotion Association, Writer’s Workshop, Los Angeles, USA, Nov 2019
Participant, “Virtual Realities: Immersive Documentary Encounters Project,” University of Bath, Bath, UK, Mar 2019
Co-sponsor/Moderator, Screening of Burning by South Korean film director Chang Dong Lee, James Bridges Theater, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA, Oct 2018
Co-sponsor/Moderator, Screening and discussion of The Fortress by South Korean film director Dong Hyuk Hwang, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA, Aug 2018
Special Lecturer, “Transnational Cinema: An Artist's Perspective,” University of California, Riverside, Riverside, USA, Jan 2018
Artist Talk, “Bloodless (VR) – Guided by the Ghost of a Korean Prostitute,” EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov 2017
Guest Speaker, “Gender and Media Activism: Bloodless,” University of California, Los Angeles, Center for the Study of Women, Los Angeles, USA, Nov 2017
Panelist, “Identity and Representation in the Empathy Machine," Engadget, Los Angeles, USA, Nov 2017
Artist Talk, “Narrating in VR and 360 Degree Films,” Västsvenska Filmdagarna, Gothenburg, Sweden, Oct 2017
Masterclass, “VR Storytelling and Documentary,” Writer’s Guild of America, Los Angeles, USA, Oct 2017
Artist Talk, “Bloodless,” National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea, Sept 2017
Masterclass, Nanyang Technological University, School of Arts, Design, and Media, Singapore, Aug 2017
Panelist, “Chinese Film Market in Asian Cinema Conference,” Nanyang Technological University, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Singapore, Aug 2017
Masterclass/Panelist, “Special VR Forum: Making of Bloodless” Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, Korea, June 2017
Masterclass, “International Coproduction,” Busan International Film Festival in association with Dankook University Graduate School of Cinematic Art, Korea, Oct 2016
Moderator, International Forum “VR Takes on Cinema,” Busan International Film Festival, Korea, Oct 2016
Lecturer, “Diversity in Hollywood,” Writer’s Guild of America, USA, Oct 2016
Lecturer, DanO Korean Spring Festival in association with Washington University and Gateway Korea Foundation, USA, May 2016
Artist Talk, Saint Louis Art Museum, USA, May 2016
Review Panel, Review of the Film Directing Program, School of Film and Video, California Institute of the Arts, USA, April 2015
Artist Talk, Center for Women's Culture and Theory, South Korea, October 2014
Artist Talk, Tokyo New Cinema Jukyu, "The Desires within the Images", Japan, July 2014.
Guest Lecturer, Block Seminar, "Understanding Film Grammar," Department of English Language and Literature, College of Humanities, Seoul National University, January 2014.
Public Lecturer, "Filmmaking in the age of globalization", Woosuk University, South Korea, April 2013.
Panelist, "Tracing the Absence," forum on the films of Margeurite Duras, Art Seonjae Center, South Korea, November 2011.
Curator/Programmer, "Visions from the South—South Korean films from 1960-2003," Harvard Film Archive, USA, Spring 2005
Public Lecturer, "Video-confession," Seoul National University, School of Fine Arts, South Korea, October 2003.
Panelist and Lecturer, "A Director's View of Filmic Language, Style, and Rhythm," University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA, September 2003.
Lecturer, "Discussing Personal Documentary and Digital Video," experimental video seminar, University of California, Irvine, Department of Film and Media, USA, May 2001.
Moderator/Lecturer, Pusan Film Commission, Digital Filmmaking Seminar, South Korea, November 2000.