Shirley Kim-Ryu

Shirley Kim-Ryu is a filmmaker and a poet. Born in Seoul, Kim-Ryu came to Los Angeles as an undocumented teenager, raising two younger siblings with the help of Latinx extended families and all-ages punk shows. A recent poetry fellow of VONA (Voices of Our Nation) workshop and Disquiet Literary Program, Kim-Ryu holds MFA Film Directing (UCLA), MFA Poetry (Cal Arts) and has been honored with 2022 LEF Moving Image Fund, Fritt Ord Foundation Grants, Nordisk Kulturfond OPSTART, Vikken Fund, Norwegian Film Institute Award, James Bridges Award in Film Directing, the Hollywood Foreign Press Award, and Mary Pickford Award. Kim-Ryu’s films have screened in film festivals internationally. Since 2016, Kim-Ryu has been a co-founder of LA based Solano Film Collective, finishing several documentaries. Shirley is also currently working with Sant og Usant (Gunda, 2020) as the director for a feature documentary.