A Korean filmmaker has been appointed full-time professor at Harvard University.
Gina Kim, a film director active in the U.S., was made professor in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University, Massachusetts, on Friday.
Kim is known for her work not only as a director but also as a documentary filmmaker and academic.
Her films explore issues such as gender, race, and diaspora. They also contain elements of Korean culture.
Kim's works include "Gina Kim's Video Diary," which was completed in 2002, "Never Forever" (2007); "Invisible Light" (2003); and "Faces of Seoul" (2009). "Gina Kim's Video Diary" became one of her most noted documentaries.
"Never Forever," which starred top Korean actor Ha Jung-woo and American actress Vera Farmiga, is representative of her Korean-foreign works.
She is currently working on a film, "Final Recipe."
Kim graduated from Seoul National University where she studied art, and went on to receive her master's degree at the California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles County.
She has already taught at Harvard University as a full-time lecturer from 2004 to 2007.
She was the first Asian director to be invited to lecture at Harvard.
The Department of Visual and Environmental Studies includes classes in studio arts and in theory. It offers courses in painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking, design, film, video, animation and photography.
Only current directors, who are still actively pursuing their career in filmmaking, are invited to be faculty in the department. Thus, contracts are often based on shorter terms.
Kim will teach at Harvard for one year as a full-time lecturer, and will also aid students in their graduation pieces.
She will also participate in a large-scale exhibition along with other U.S. video artists and musicians. The theme of the exhibition is Seoul.
Kwon Ji-youn jykwon@koreatimes.co.kr