Hee Jin Kim
Video Director / Producer
BA Film & Animation
University of the Arts London
MA Documentary Film
HeeJin Kim
Biography
A Korea and UK based director working across documentary and experimental cinema, focusing on original and experimental films that explore identity, time,
and the complexities of human emotion. Through a distinctive visual language,
the work blurs the boundaries between reality and emotion.
Awards
HAK KYUNG / 2021
• 13th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival - Short Competition Nominated
• 21th Jeonbuk Independent Film Festival - Special remarks by the judges
• 23th Daejeon Independent Film Festival - Best Picture Award
Project 01
If I were an Apple, 2025
Director
If I were an apple is a personal documentary that reflects on identity, renewal, and transformation through embodied memory and ritual. Rooted in personal experience, the film draws inspiration from a Korean spiritual practice of writing wishes or misfortunes on paper and burning them as an act of release and cleansing.
Reinterpreted through a contemporary, autobiographical lens, the work uses hanji (traditional Korean paper) and the gestures of Jijeon Dance (paper dance) to translate inner emotional states into physical movement. As the paper is written on, handled, and ultimately consumed by fire, the director’s body moves between remembrance and liberation, documenting a personal process of letting go.
Reinterpreted through a contemporary, autobiographical lens, the work uses hanji (traditional Korean paper) and the gestures of Jijeon Dance (paper dance) to translate inner emotional states into physical movement. As the paper is written on, handled, and ultimately consumed by fire, the director’s body moves between remembrance and liberation, documenting a personal process of letting go.
Project 02
Hak Kyung, 2021
Director
‘Teresa Cha’ or ‘Cha Hak-kyung’ is an unlucky genius artist who died young at the age of 31. Her life was too short, but her work of art was progressive and experimental, and she was a pilgrim of excellent language and performance art beyond the structure of awareness, knowledge, and logical understanding.
The inspiration from reinterpreting the artwork she left behind is projected into my life. Story begins with Cha Hak-kyung, at the same time, my own story starts. It contains the process of finding my 'identity' through the inspiration received from her.
The inspiration from reinterpreting the artwork she left behind is projected into my life. Story begins with Cha Hak-kyung, at the same time, my own story starts. It contains the process of finding my 'identity' through the inspiration received from her.
Project 03
GEASAMTKUSTWERK, 2025
Director
“Gesamtkunstwerk”: the film is a reflection of how it combines multiple art forms into one. It is inspired by the creators of the bauhaus, who envisioned a way in which architecture could influence their progressive ideals, and vice versa. The Isokon can be seen in (literally) a different light with every shot through experiments with points of view.
It is difficult to imagine that it was once listed second in the competition for “Ugliest building in Britain” in 1946. Not only is the building interesting, but of course, those who lived in it. In this case, we would like to integrate the stories of Arnold Deutch (KGB spy) and the bauhaus founder Walter Gropius himself. Through archive interviews, we preserve a legacy of these buildings narrated by those who lived in them.
It is difficult to imagine that it was once listed second in the competition for “Ugliest building in Britain” in 1946. Not only is the building interesting, but of course, those who lived in it. In this case, we would like to integrate the stories of Arnold Deutch (KGB spy) and the bauhaus founder Walter Gropius himself. Through archive interviews, we preserve a legacy of these buildings narrated by those who lived in them.