Ian Kim

I'm a 17-year-old Korean-American filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist and a junior at the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. I started my artistic journey in middle school, when I borrowed my first digital camera and began taking photographs of street scenes and landscapes. As a sophomore, I was selected as a 2022 YoungArts Finalist for my photo series “Grandmother” about Korean American identity and assimilation, and won a Scholastic National Gold Medal for self-portraiture. Since then, my photography has also been exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and I continue to experiment with digital and analogue media. My film projects have mainly centered around documentary and animation. For 5 years, I have worked closely with peers and Holocaust survivors at the Righteous Conversations Project, where I co-directed four short animated documentaries on the lives of child survivors of the Holocaust. The films went on to win selections and awards from film festivals around the world, including Mill Valley, NFFTY, and the American Pavilion at Cannes. In 2020 I became an editor at the youth-led Covideo Project, creating short documentaries about the lives of teens around the world during the early months of the pandemic, for which I received a Scholastic National Gold Medal in extended projects.

Filmography (2018-2023)

My Sisters In The Stars: The Story of Lee Yong-soo (2023) Director

• Austin Film Festival 2022 - Youth Film Competition Jury Award Winner
• Scout Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Grant Under 18 ($5,000)
• Boston International Kids Film Festival 2022
• Independent Shorts Awards 2022 - Gold Award for Best Young Filmmaker
• IndieX Film Fest 2022 - Best Young Filmmaker and Nominee for Best Documentary Short
• Los Angeles Asian Film Festival 2022
• MY HERO International Film Festival 2022 (Out of Competition)
• Heritage Film Festival 2022
• ASIAN Feedback Film Festival 2022

The White Rose (2021) Director

• Albany FilmFest 2022
• All American High School Film Festival 2022
• Alliance for Social and Economic Justice Film Festival 2022
• Asian American International Film Festival 2022
• Boston International Kids Film Festival 2022
• Des Moines Interrobang Film Festival 2022
• Detmold International Shorts Festival 2022
• Glendale International Film Festival 2022
• International Social Change Film Festival 2022
• KIDS FIRST 2022
• Los Angeles Student Film Festival 2022
• Mill Valley Film Festival 2022
• MY HERO International Film Festival 2022
• New Optics 2022 - Runner-Up Animation
• Newport Beach Film Festival 2022
• Planet Classroom Feature & Interview
• Reel Youth Film Festival 2022
• SCREEN 2022
• Screen Test Student Fest 2022
• Studio City Film Festival 2022
• Anim8 Student Film Festival 2022 - Awards of Excellence
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A Prayer For My Mother: The Eva Brettler Story (2021) Co-Director

• All American High School Film Festival 2022
• American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers High School Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2022 - Best High School Film
• Boston International Film Festival 2022
• Heartland International Film Festival 2021
• Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2022 - Best Documentary, Summer White Lynch Award
• L.A. Student Film Festival 2022
• Newport Beach Film Festival 2022
• National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2022
• Scout Film Festival 2022
• Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTFLIX 2022 - Humanitarian Award

A Ship Called Lili: The Lillian Trilling Story (2020) Co-Director

• All American High School Film Festival 2021 - Award Finalist
• American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers High School Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2021
• Archer Film Festival 2021 - Grand Jury Prize
• ArtScope Magazine Feature 2021
• Boston International Kids' Film Festival 2021 - Best Student Documentary
• Heartland Indy Shorts 2021
• Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest 2020
• New Optics Film Festival 2021 - Best Documentary
• National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2022
• SCREEN 2021 - Fan Favorite Award
• Sun Valley Film Festival 2021
• Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTF21X - Best Overall Award

Stitching A Life: The Story if Trudie Strobel (2019) Co-Director

• All American High School Film Festival 2020
• American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers High School Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2020 - Honorable Mention
• Heartland International Film Festival 2020
• Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest 2020
• Indy Film Fest 2020 High School Competition - Audience Choice Award
• Joyce Forum Jewish Short Film Festival 2020
• Melech Youth Film Fest 2020
• Miami Jewish Film Festival 2020
• MY HERO International Film Festival 2020
• Newport Beach Film Festival 2020
• National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2022 -“Get Your Hands Arty” Showcase Audience Award
• Nordic Young Film Festival 2020
• School Film Competition - Audience Award
• Scout Film Festival 2020 - Best Documentary 18 and Under
• Screen Test Student Fest 2020 - Audience Award & 1st Place
• Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTFLIX20 - Humanitarian Award

Hold the Sun in Your Hands: The Erika Jacoby Story (2018) Co-Director

• All American Film Festival 2019
• American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Student Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2019 - Best Student Documentary
• Annual Copenhagen Film Festival 2020
• Archer Film Festival 2019
• Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTFLIX19 - Best Overall
• Heritage Film Festival 2019
• Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival 2019
• Los Angeles Student Film Festival 2019
• Melech Youth Film Fest 2020 - Best Documentary 
• Mill Valley Film Festival 2019
• National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2019 - Honorable Mention for Animation
• Newport Beach Film Festival 2019
• North Hollywood Cinefest 2019
• Planet Classroom Feature 2021
• Santa Monica International Teen Film Festival 2019
• SCREEN Film Festival 2019 - Best Student Documentary
• South Bay Student Video Festival 2019