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KO Hee-young  
KO Hee-young
Director, Actress, Editor

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Gender : Female

Nationality : South Korea

KO Hee-young, born in 1966 in Jeju Island, left her hometown at the age of 23 to work as a local news reporter in Daegu for daily newspaper Gyeongbuk Ilbo, before becoming in 1996 the main screenwriter of TV variety show <Unanswered Questions> for SBS. Since her repetitive job was making her anxious, she felt like she needed to try new experiences, and so she decided to move to Beijing and start a new career in independent documentary films. One day, as she was diagnosed with cancer, she started to question her life so far and felt a special admiration for the strong will and determination of haenyeo, Jeju’s women divers who harvest seafood without any breathing apparatus. She decided to make a movie about them, and so, in 2008, she established in Korea her film production company Sumbi, whose name comes from the exhalation technique used by these divers. She spent two years just to gain the trust of the haenyo, and many more to film them. She eventually released her movie <Breathing Underwater> in 2016, in the wake of the special mention of the jury she received in the Korean Competition of the Jeonju International Film Festival. She released the same year another documentary, <SEE-SAW> (2016), in which a former pop star who turned blind goes on a road-trip with the man who wants to donate to him the cornea of his last remaining eye.

Director of <Why Made-in-China Conquers the World> (KBS Special)
Director of <Kojima Island Monkeys – Record of Ten Years> (SBS Special) etc. produced many documentaries
2008 founded a Film production 'Soom Bee'
2008~2013 Executive director of documentary feature,<Mulsum>(A Little Bit More), <1966-1976>
Any copying, republication or redistribution of KOFIC's content is prohibited without prior consent of KOFIC.

Related Photo

Filmography

Filmography  
Legend of the Waterflowers (2023)
Director
Filmography  
The Breathing of the Fire (2019)
Director
Filmography  
Breathing Underwater (2016)
Director, Actress, Staff
Filmography  
SEE-SAW (2016)
Director

Related News

  1. ·  Jeonju International Film Festival Reveals 2019 Lineup
    Apr 22, 2019
  2. ·  JIFF Announces 4 Jeonju Cinema Projects for 2019 Edition
    Jan 30, 2019
  3. ·  SAND STORM, OUR LOVE STORY and DELTA BOYS Take Jeonju Grand Prizes
    May 10, 2016

Related Kofic News

  1. ·  The Season of Jeonju Has Come
    May 04, 2016

Awards and Invitation

  1. · <Legend of the Waterflowers> Seoul International Eco Film Festival : SIEFF (2023)
  2. · <Legend of the Waterflowers> Seoul International Eco Film Festival : SIEFF (2023)
  3. · <Legend of the Waterflowers> Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (2023)
  4. · <Legend of the Waterflowers> Jeju Women's Film Festival (2023)
  5. · <Legend of the Waterflowers> Paris Korean Film Festival (2023) - SECTION PAYSAGE
  6. · <Legend of the Waterflowers> Busan International Film Festival : BIFF (2022)
  7. · <Breathing Underwater> Korean Film Festival in Hungary (2021) - Extra
  8. · <The Breathing of the Fire> Jeonju International Film Festival : JIFF (2019) - Jeonju Cinema Project
  9. · <The Breathing of the Fire> EBS International Documentary Film Festival : EIDF (2019) - Intangible Heritage in Docs
  10. · <Breathing Underwater> Korea Independent Filmfestival (2017)
  11. · <Breathing Underwater> Jeonju International Film Festival : JIFF (2016) - Korean Competition
  12. · <Breathing Underwater> London East Asia Film Festival (2016) - Film Festival Focus - JIFF
  13. · <Breathing Underwater> London Korean Film Festival (2016) - Documentary
  14. · <SEE-SAW> Docs Port Incheon (2014)
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