Haenyeo, 2013, HD video, colour, sound, 10 minutes 57 seconds
Directed, filmed and edited by Ellie Kyungran Heo
Special participants: O Eun Ja, Hyun Won Jo
Special participants: O Eun Ja, Hyun Won Jo
There are female divers called ‘haenyeo’ (literally ‘sea women’) who live on the island of Jeju in South Korea. The sea women wear black rubber suits and glass masks and venture deep into the sea to harvest conches, octopuses, urchins, abalones and seaweed.
The experimental documentary film Haenyeo focuses on one such woman and her daily life with her husband. By capturing the couple’s daily life together, as well as their surroundings, this work emphasises the meaning of their routine: ordinary, yet extraordinary.