Koh Heeyoung

Koh Heeyoung (Korean: 고희영) is a South Korean film-maker, who is the director of Breathing Underwater, a documentary on haenyo.^[1][2] Its production was part of wider efforts to raise awareness of, and UNESCO listing for the culture of haenyo.^[3][4] The film premiered at the Korean Cultural Centre Australia.^[5] Another early screening was also held at the London Korean Film Festival.^[6]

Born in Jeju, where the haenyo are from, Koh spent seven years collecting footage.^[1] In 2019 she was invited to the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Sweden, where an exhibition on the haenyo and a showing of Breathing Underwater were held to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.^[7]