Kim Bora is a South Korean filmmaker and holds an MFA in film directing from Columbia University. Her recent short film, “The Recorder Exam” won numerous awards including the Best Student Filmmaker Award from The Directors Guild of America. The film was also a National Finalist for the 2012 Student Academy Awards. Kim’s debut feature “House of Hummingbird” received production support from Korean Film Council, Seoul Film Commission and Asian Cinema Fund of Busan International Film Festival. The film received post-production support from the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program and was selected as an IFP Narrative Lab Fellow. It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, where it won the NETPAC award and the KNN Audience award. The film went on to collect 59 awards from prestigious festivals, including Berlinale, Tribeca, BFI London, Istanbul, Jerusalem, and a Blue Dragon award—Korea’s equivalent of an Oscar. At the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, Kim won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus with House of Hummingbird.
Career
Born in South Korea in 1981, Kim Bora graduated from Dongguk University with a degree in film. In 2007, she left for Columbia University in the U.S., and received a Masters of Fine Arts. Her film The Recorder Exam was her created graduation film project, and it won Best Student Filmmaker for the East Region from the Directors Guild of America. After the release of the film, Kim began to work on the script that would be based on her own childhood. Later, she moved back to Korea and gave lectures in the colleges where she studied. In 2018, after seven years of working on the script and production, her debut film House of Hummingbird was released, winning multiple awards and was on a winning streak. The film also received production support from the Korean Film Council, Seoul Film Commission, as well as Asian Cinima Fund of Busan International Film Festival. House of Hummingbird is a coming-of-age film about a girl, Eun-hee, who was a part of the expanding 1990's economy, and, due to her flawed family, is searching for validation through love and reasons to continue living. Kim said that the incidents in this film are based on incidents and events that occurred throughout her childhood, after having a nightmare in while living in New York and decided to understand what she had gone through.
Filmography
The Recorder Exam - director
House of Hummingbird - director, screenwriter, executive producer
Awards
2011 DGA Student Awards: Best Woman Student Filmmaker- East Region
2011 Woodstock Film Festival: Best Student Short Film ''
2018 Busan International Film Festival: KNN Award
2018 Busan International Film Festival: NEPAC Award
2019 Athens International Film Festival: Best Screenplay
2019 Beijing International Film Festival: Forward Future Award
2019 Bergen International Film Festival: Cinema Extrodinare
2019 Berlin International Film Festival: Best Feature Film
2019 Blue Dragon Awards: Best Screenplay
2019 Cinema Jove- Valencia International Film Festival: Best Directing
2019 Cinema Jove- Valencia International Film Festival: Best Film
2019 Cyprus Film Days International Festival: Special Jury Award
2019 Faro Island Film Festival: Best New Director
2019 Heartland International Film Festival: Narrative Feature
2019 Istanbul International Film Festival: International Competition
2019 Jerusalem Film Festival: International First Film
2019 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards: Best New Director
2019 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards: FIPRESCI Award
