KyungMook Kim
Based in Seoul, KyungMook Kim’s works explore the precarity of marginalized groups, such as those who identify as LGBTQIA+, sex workers, and North Korean defectors. Through his films, he has attempted to reveal the ambiguity between appearance and disappearance, visibility and invisibility, and presence and absence. He made his directorial debut at 19 with Me and Doll-playing (2004). Since then, he has made seven films, including the so-called Things Trilogy, which consists of Faceless Things (2005), Stateless Things (2011), and Futureless Things (2014).
His films have been selected for and received awards in numerous international film festivals, including the Venice Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and BFI London Film Festival. Kim has also worked as a journalist and a columnist for a number of publications—serving on the editorial board of Korea’s only independent film magazine, Independent Film, and as a committee member of the Association of Korean Independent Film and Video. In 2015, following his strong belief in pacifism, he was a conscientious objector against military conscription and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Kim was paroled in 2016 after one year and three months of imprisonment.
