Heehyun Choi
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Heehyun Choi 최희현

b. 1994
www.heehyun.com
heehyunchoiart@gmail.com

Heehyun Choi is a moving image artist and educator based in South Korea and the US. Her practice is grounded on the interest in the physicality and virtuality in projected images, the unseen beings outside the camera frame, and the subjectivity and variability of the act of seeing. Choi received her BA in Art&Technology at Sogang University and MFA in Film & Video at California Institute of the Arts. Her films have been screened internationally including at  Edinburgh International Film Festival, 25 FPS Festival, Images Festival, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul (EXiS), and Ann Arbor Film Festival where she received the Mariam Ghani Juror Award. She is the recipient of 2024 KAFA (Korea Arts Foundation of America) Award, WNDX x NIMAC Experimental Moving Image Award, AHL Foundation Artist Fellowship, Alison Doerner Fund for Women Pioneers in Filmmaking, the Lightning Fund by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
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최희현은 한국과 미국을 기반으로 실험영화를 만든다. 영사된 이미지에서 발견되는 물성과 가상성의 뒤섞임, 카메라 프레임 밖으로 감추어지는 것들, 그리고 언제나 주관적이고 가변적인 ‘보기seeing’의 문제를 다루는 것에 관심이 있다. 서강대학교 아트앤테크놀로지학과와 캘리포니아 인스티튜트 오브 더 아츠 (CalArts) 필름앤비디오 석사과정을 졸업했다. 에딘버러국제영화제, 25FPS 영화제, 이미지스영화제, DMZ국제다큐멘터리영화제, 서울국제실험영화페스티벌에서 상영하였고 앤아버영화제에서 심사위원상을 수상하였다. 2024 카파 (KAFA Korea Arts Foundation of America) 미술상, WNDX x NIMAC 무빙이미지 어워드, 알재단(AHL Foundation) 아티스트 펠로십, Alison Doerner 여성영화인 펀드,  앤디워홀재단 및 Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)의 라이트닝 펀드(The Lightning Fund)를 수상하였다. 


Education 

2021    Master of Fine Arts in Film&Video, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, United States
2017    Bachelor of Arts and Science in Art&Technology, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea

Screenings and Festivals
2025  Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival (ICDOCS), Iowa City, IA, United States
2025  San Diego Underground Film Festival
2024   CROSSROADS Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, United States
2024   25FPS Film Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
2024   Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, UK
2024   Houston Cinema Arts Festival Colors, Nailed to the Mast – New Experimental Cinema, Houston, TX, United States
2024   서울국제실험영화페스티벌 Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul (EXiS), Seoul, South Korea
2024   서울국제대안영상예술페스티벌(네마프) Seoul International ALT Cinema & Media Festival (Nemaf), Seoul, South Korea
2024    Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival (ICDOCS), Iowa City, IA, United States
2023    Forgotten Lives and Disappeared Worlds: Experimental Films, University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), Berkeley, CA, United States
2023    Mur Murs Film Series curated by Rebecca Baron and David Dinnell, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2023    WNDX Festival of Moving Image, Winnipeg, Canada
2023    The Margins of Dream Language - Contemporary Korean Female Experimental Filmmakers, co-presented by LA Filmforum, LAND and GYOPO, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2023    서울국제여성영화제 < 쟁점들: 이미지, 저항의 기술 > 섹션 상영 Seoul International Women’s Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2023    인디그라운드 2023 독립영화 라이브러리 Indieground Independent Film Library 2023, Seoul, South Korea
2022    DMZ 국제다큐멘터리영화제 단편경쟁부문 상영 DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, Paju, South Korea
2022    서울독립영화제 새로운선택 부문 상영 Seoul Independent Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2022    스페이스 셀 오픈 스크리닝 상영 Space Cell Film Lab Open Screening, Seoul, South Korea
2022    Film Diary NYC, New York, NY, United States
‌2022    Mariam Ghani Juror Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
2022    Images Festival, Toronto, Canada
2022    Vienna Shorts Film Festival, Austria
2022    San Diego Underground Film Festival Selections, San Diego, CA, United States
2022    인디그라운드 2022 독립영화 라이브러리 Indieground Independent Film Library 2022, Seoul, South Korea
2022    Holding Binoculars, Pointing a Camera: A Cinema of Birdwatching, The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
2022    Move Screen! Process Cinema! Vol. 2, Whammy Analog Media, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2021    서울독립영화제 새로운선택 부문 상영 Seoul Independent Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2021    25 FPS Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
2021    Onion City Experimental Film+Video Festival, Chicago, IL, United States
2021    Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival (ICDOCS), Iowa City, IA, United States
2021    AT THE FRINGE International Arts Festival, Tranås, Sweden
2021    Filmfort, Boise, ID, United States
2021    Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey
2021    International Student Moving Image Showcase The Self and The Other, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2021    A Concrete Cloud, The Nightingale Cinema, Chicago, IL, United States
2021    CalArts School of Film/Video Showcase, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2020    서울독립영화제 단편경쟁부문 상영 Seoul Independent Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2020    San Diego Underground Film Festival, San Diego, CA, United States
2020    서울대안영상예술페스티벌 (네마프) 주제전 < 뒷산의 괴물들: 같이 사는 것에 대하여 > 상영  Seoul International ALT Cinema & Media Festival (Nemaf), Seoul, South Korea
2020    Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, UK
2020    ULTRAcinema, Tepic, Mexico
2020    32 Girona Film Festival, Girona, Spain
2020    Festival ECRÃ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2020    인디포럼 개막작 상영 Independent Film&Video Makers’ Forum, Seoul, South Korea
2020    서울독립영화제 순회상영회 인디피크닉 상영 "Indie Picnic" Seoul Independent Film Festival Tour Screening, South Korea
2020    Moviate Underground Film Festival, Harrisburg, PA, United States
2020    BIDEODROMO International Experimental Film and Video Festival, Bilbao, Spain
2020    32 Girona Film Festival, Girona, Spain
2020    Oxford Film Festival Project(ions), Oxford, MS, United States
2020    Onion City Experimental Film+ Video Festival, Chicago, IL, United States
2020    Laterale Film Festival, Cosenza, Italy
2019    서울독립영화제 단편경쟁부문 상영 Seoul Independent Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea
2019    San Diego Underground Film Festival, San Diego, CA, United States
2019    International Experimental Film Festival "The Unforeseen" Belgrade, Serbia
2019    Yoni Fest, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2019    CalArts School of Film/Video Showcase, Los Angeles, CA, United States

TV Broadcast
2024    KBS1TV KBS독립영화관 방영 / KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) KBS Independent Cinema, South Korea

Artist Talks and Events
2025    Heehyun Choi Film Screening at ION Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2024    Parellel Works: 최희현 단편선, 소리그림 Parellel Works: Short Films by Heehyun Choi, Sorigrim, Seoul, South Korea
2024    NEW, SIX: KCAI Biennial TNT (The Noon Thing): Embodied Connections, Kansas City, MO
2023    Six Films Presented by Heehyun Choi, Stray Cat Film Center, Kansas City, MO
2023    서울국제여성영화제 < 쟁점 토크: 이미지, 벽 또는 가능성 > 패널 Seoul International Women’s Film Festival Discussion Panel, Seoul, South Korea
2023    수유너머 104 소네마리 갤러리 공동체 상영 Gallery Suyunomo 104 Screening with Q&A, Seoul, South Korea
2023    Visiting Artist Screening and Talk, School of Art & Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
2022    Video Salon at Arts at Blue Roof, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Group Exhibitions
2025    Water You Cannot Hold, In Other News Gallery, Kansas City, MO, United States
2024    NEW, SIX: KCAI Biennial, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO, United States   
2023    Kansas City Flatfile&Digitalfile, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO, United States
2023    데이터로 재환원하는 일상실천미술관, 대안영상문화발전소 아이공
2023    Double Body - Group video exhibition, Tiger Strikes Asteroid LA, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2022    AHL Foundation Artist Fellowship Exhibition: When Attitudes Become Positions, AHL Foundation, New York,  NY, USA
2022    < 거울속에는소리가없소 >, 탈영역우정국 Unsounded Mirror, Post Territory Ujeongguk, Seoul, South Korea
2021    < ( )는 모든 것의 고유한 울림을 >, 임시공간 In its Own Resonance, Space Imsi, Incheon, South Korea
2020    < 스페이스 결 릴레이전 >, 스페이스 결 Space Kyeol Relay Exhibition, Seoul, South Korea

Artist Residency 
2024    Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency, Kansas City, MO, United States

Awards and Honors
2025  Juror Award, Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival (ICDOCS), Iowa City, IA, United States
2024    Korea Arts Foundation America (KAFA) Award 카파 미술상, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2023-2024    Association of Independent Colleges of Art&Design (AICAD) Post Graduate Teaching Fellowship 2023/24, United States
2023    WNDX x NIMAC Experimental Moving Image Award, Canada
2023    The Lightning Fund by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA, United States
2023    Kansas City Art Institute Faculty Development Grant, Kansas City, MO, United States
‌2022    Mariam Ghani Juror Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
2022    Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, New York, NY, United States
2021    AHL Foundation Artist Fellowship, AHL Foundation, New York, NY, United States
2021    Post Graduate Teaching Fellowship, School of Film&Video, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States
2020    Alison Doerner Fund for Women Pioneers in Filmmaking, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States
2019-2020    The Hollywood Foreign Press Association Scholarship, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States
2018-2021    Lillian Disney Scholarship, CalArts, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States

Teaching Experience
2023-present    Visiting Assistant Professor, Photography&Filmmaking Department, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, United States
2022    Post Graduate Teaching Fellow, School of Film/Video, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States
2021    Teaching Assistant to Chris Hill, History of Video Art, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States
2021    Teaching Assistant to Jheanelle Brown, Seminar in Black Experimental Film&Video, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States
2019    Teaching Assistant to John Hawk, 16mm Film Production Workshop, CalArts, Valencia, CA, United States