Heesoo Kwon

Selected for AFI '25 by LACE, Los Angeles, US.

What compels you to work with moving image, and when did you first become interested in the medium?
I’m drawn to the moving image because it allows me to explore and archive temporal and spatial elements in ways that other mediums don’t. I first became interested in the moving image while creating performance pieces and documenting and manipulating the footage. I started making videos using my laptop’s camera and free video editing tools. It was a highly accessible medium and a liberating tool for me as a young artist, as it didn’t require expensive equipment or extensive experience.

Can you speak about the potential that dreaming and altered states of reality offer individuals and societies? How do you feel this is reflected in filmmaking and in your artwork specifically?
Dreaming and altered states of reality offer individuals and societies a profound space for transformation, healing, and self-discovery. They allow us to step beyond the limitations of the waking world, exploring the subconscious and unlocking hidden aspects of our identities, histories, and potential futures. In Leymusoom Garden: New Sun, this potential is reflected in the way I create a virtual sanctuary that connects my ancestors' land with the place where I was located during the production period.

Please share a list of books, music, films, artworks, thinkers, spaces and places that inspire your practice, and in particular have fed into your thinking around this film.
I watched Korean horror radio YouTube videos and listened to a shamanic DJ playlist. 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer was a very inspiring book. I got a small braided sweetgrass bundle and often smelled it while I was making the film.

What new projects or lines of research are currently preoccupying you?
I am currently working on upcoming exhibitions for 2025, which will focus on my photography series 'Leymusoom Firefly'.