Profile·Busan
At 91, Pioneering Sculptor Kim Yun Shin Becomes the First Visual Artist to Walk the BIFF Red Carpet
'Kim Yun Shin Punches In', a feature documentary on one of Korea's first-generation female sculptors, had its world premiere at the 31st Busan International Film Festival's Wide Angle Documentary Showcase. The film follows Kim's decision to leave for Argentina at 49 and return to Korea at 88, and opens a new docuseries on Korean women artists.
'Kim Yun Shin Punches In' (2026), a feature-length documentary on one of Korea's first-generation female sculptors, made its world premiere at the Wide Angle Documentary Showcase of the 31st Busan International Film Festival, ahead of a theatrical release planned for 2027. On the opening day, Kim became the first visual artist to walk the festival's red carpet, appearing alongside director Sun-ae Lim.
Born in Wonsan in 1935, Kim belongs to Korea's first generation of female sculptors. At 49 she resigned her professorship and left for Argentina, where she spent the next four decades working in South America, following trees, stones and raw gemstones. Then, at the age of 88, she returned to Korea in 2023. The film traces the choices and determination behind that return; Kim herself suggests that watching the camera follow someone who does nothing but work may be the whole answer. It also traces her bonds with other women, including her student Kim Ran, who stayed by her side since she left for Argentina.
The film is the first instalment of a documentary series on Korean women artists produced by PRODUCTION PIEDS-JOINTS under the subtitle 'Capturing the World in Step'. Founded by two former Insa Art Space staff (the Arts Council Korea venue closed this year), the company frames the series as a time capsule carrying that space's archival legacy into new distribution forms. Season one, 'They Will Live Long', examines women artists born before the 1953 Korean Armistice through younger filmmakers' and artists' eyes. After Kim Yun Shin come episodes on Myong Hi Kim, Nho Wonhee and Yun Suknam, expanding into publications, exhibitions, narrative films, webtoons and games.
Beck Jee-sook, former Seoul Museum of Art director and the company's co-CEO, says exhibitions alone cannot introduce artists and that video and digital platforms must urgently diversify how artists and audiences connect. The film will be re-edited for an EBS television broadcast early next year, and photographer Eun Chun, who has long documented Kim's studio practice, is preparing an exhibition.
