Ellie Kyungran Heo
2021Did you eat rice?
Ellie Kyungran Heo
In Asian culture, the question 'did you eat rice?' means 'have you eaten?' (usually referring to a specific meal: breakfast, lunch or dinner). Moreover, this question could also function as a greeting and an expression of concern for someone; for example, a substitute for 'how have you been?', 'are you okay?', or 'is everything all right?' The experimental documentary film Did You Eat Rice? explores the sensitive relationships which exist between local farmers and their natural environments during the rice harvest in Omachi, Japan. In this production, various subjects, as well as the audience, are asked the question 'did you eat rice?'.
Did you eat rice?
Plantarians
Ellie Kyungran Heo
An English-style garden, a plot of earth in New York’s Central Park, a garden and a cemetery in Maastricht: Plantarians asks, 'what does it mean to have a garden?' Divided into episodes, the film studies the capacity of garden plants to respond to the particularities of their surroundings; at the same time, it tracks the lives of the contemporary men and women who cultivate, enjoy, eat, obsess over, and even grieve with and for these plants.
Plantarians
Island
Ellie Kyungran Heo
Island features an island located at the southern-most point of South Korea, one small enough that it takes but an hour to traverse its circumference. On the island, there are two extremely contrasting atmospheres, from crowded hordes to hours of emptiness. This contrast emphasises its sense of place as an island, both geographically and psychologically. Island sheds light on the lives of some of the residents of the island, and the questions “where are you now?”, “why are you here?” and “what happened to you?” will be put to the subjects of the film, the audience, and the director herself.
Island
Plantarians: Appendix
Ellie Kyungran Heo
Why is it that we place a plant in a pot, confining its ability to grow and occupy physical space? This work is part of "Plantarians" which asks, what does it mean to have a garden? Apportioned into episodes, the film studies the capacity of garden plants to respond to the particularities of their surroundings. At the same time, it tracks the lives of the contemporary men and women who cultivate, enjoy, eat, obsess over, and even grieve with and for these plants. The piece invites audiences to witness the codependent existence of earth’s living organisms, and to reflect on the ways in which this inter-dependence can be characterised by both conflict and intimacy.
Plantarians: Appendix
Can’t Wait
Ellie Kyungran Heo
Can’t Wait, which was commissioned by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, captures various pet characters in the waiting room of a veterinary hospital. This video was produced to give comfort to patients and their carers in (human) hospital waiting rooms.
Can’t Wait