Ian Kim

Ian Kim is a filmmaker, actor, singer, playwright, and composer at Harvard College. Born in Los Angeles, California, his work spans several genres, and has been produced and recognized at a national and international level for his work in film and theater.

As a filmmaker, he has won awards at film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival's American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase, NFFTY, SFFILM, and the Heartland International Film Festival. As a multi-skilled theater artist he has written and produced two award-winning musicals, played the leading role in Sweeney Todd in a school production, and written several award-winning plays. He is a 2022 YoungArts Finalist in Photography and 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Film, as well as a 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts. He is currently studying Economics and History and Literature at Harvard University.

Film 
● 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts and YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Film 
    ○ Film: My Sisters In The Stars: The Story of Lee Yong-soo 
    ○ 1 of 10 Finalists in Film (160 Total Finalists out of ~7,000 national submissions) 
● Winner, Best High School Film at the Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase (additional awards listed below) 
● Co-Leader, Harvard-Westlake Animators' Club (2022) 
● Editor, The Covideo Project (2020-Present) 
    ○ Director and editor, 3 short documentaries about global youth in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic 
    ○ Scholastic National Gold Medal in Extended Projects 
● VIEW Conference Youth Animation Panelist (Turin, Italy, 2022) 
● 2023 California Arts Scholar 
    ○ Awarded by the California State Summer School for the Arts 

Filmography 
My Sisters In The Stars: The Story of Lee Yong-soo (2023) 
Director (Runtime: 9:54) 
A short documentary about the life story of Lee Yong-soo, one of 11 remaining known survivors in Korea of the Japanese WWII-era Comfort Women system of sexual slavery, told through multimedia stop-motion animation. 
● Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase 2023 - Best High School Film 
● Scout Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Grant Winner ($5,000) 
● Austin Film Festival 2022 - Jury Award Winner 
● San Francisco International Film Festival 2023 - Golden Gate Award 
● WESTFLIX 2023 - Cheri Gaulke Award for Visual Storytelling, Audience Award 
● Pacifica SCREEN Film Festival 2023 - Best Film, Audience Award 
● CineYouth Film Festival 2023 - Best Animation 
● Screen Test Student Fest 2023 - Best Production Value and First Place 
● New Optics Film Festival 2023 - Best Documentary 
● Asian American International Film Festival 2023 - Ones to Watch Award 
● Real to Reel Film Festival 2023 - Best Student Animation 
● Women Over 50 Film Festival 2023 - Audience Choice Award, Student Film Award 
● NFFTY24 - Audience Award, Special Jury Mention 
● Heeum Museum of Wartime Sexual Slavery by Japan (Daegu, Korea) Exhibition (2022–) 
● Glendale Public Library Exhibition - Women and War (2023) 
● Boston International Kids Film Festival 2022 
● MY HERO International Film Festival 2022 (Out of Competition) 
● Phoenix Film Festival 2023 (AAPI non-youth) 
● Cleveland International Film Festival 2023 (Oscar-qualifying) (non-youth) 
● Women's Voices Now Film Festival 2023 
● Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival 2023 
● Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival 2023 
● Mill Valley Film Festival 2023 
● Newport Beach Film Festival 2023 - Best Student Short Nominee 
● Burbank International Film Festival 2023 

The White Rose (2021) 
Director (Runtime: 2:30) 
The story of two German students who resisted the Nazis by distributing anonymous leaflets during the early years of World War II. 
● Anim8 Student Film Festival 2022 - Awards of Excellence ($125) 
● New Optics 2022 - Runner-Up Animation 
● 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 
● 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 
● Hellbender Student Film Festival 2022 
● Flanimation Film Festival 2023 Trojan (2021) (Actor) (Directed by Sophie Kim) 
● Harvard University ARTS FIRST Film Night 2021 

Studio: Righteous Conversations Project (2018-Present):

A Prayer For My Mother: The Eva Brettler Story (2021) 
Co-Director (Runtime: 9:57) 
● American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers High School Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2022 - Best High School Film 
● Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2022 - Best Documentary, Summer White Lynch Award 
● WESTFLIX 2022 - Humanitarian Award 
● Boston International Film Festival 2022 
● Heartland International Film Festival 2021 
● All American High School Film Festival 2022 
● L.A. Student Film Festival 2022 
● Newport Beach Film Festival 2022 
● National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2022 
● Scout Film Festival 2022 

A Ship Called Lili: The Lillian Trilling Story (2020) 
Co-Director (Runtime: 9:55) 
● Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTF21X - Best Overall Award 
● Pacifica SCREEN Film Festival 2021 - Fan Favorite Award 
● Boston International Kids' Film Festival 2021 - Best Student Documentary 
● 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 
● Heartland Indy Shorts 2021 
● Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest 2020 
● New Optics Film Festival 2021 - Best Documentary 
● National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2022 
● Sun Valley Film Festival 2021 Stitching A Life: The Story if Trudie Strobel (2019) Co-Director (Runtime: 9:55) 
● National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2022 - Audience Award 
● Indy Film Fest 2020 High School Competition - Audience Choice Award 
● Screen Test Student Fest 2020 - Audience Award & 1st Place 
● Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTFLIX20 - Humanitarian Award 
● Scout Film Festival 2021 - Best Documentary 18 and Under 
● American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers High School Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2020 - Honorable Mention 
● All American High School Film Festival 2020 
● Heartland International Film Festival 2020 
● Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest 2020 
● 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 
● Nordic Young Film Festival 2020 

Hold the Sun in Your Hands: The Erika Jacoby Story (2018) 
Co-Director (Runtime: 8:34) 
● American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Student Showcase at Cannes Film Festival 2019 - Best Student Documentary 
● Harvard-Westlake Film Festival/ WESTFLIX19 - Best Overall 
● SCREEN Film Festival 2019 - Best Student Documentary 
● National Film Festival for Talented Youth 2019 - Honorable Mention for Animation 
● Annual Copenhagen Film Festival 2020 
● Archer Film Festival 2019 
● 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 
● Newport Beach Film Festival 2019 
● North Hollywood Cinefest 2019 
● Planet Classroom Feature 2021 
● Santa Monica International Teen Film Festival 2019 
● South Bay Student Video Festival 2019 
● All American High School Film Festival 2019 

Writing and Composing 
● Unauthorized Aid: A Musical (2023), a 45-minute original musical 
    ○ Wrote book, lyrics, and co-composed 
    ○ California Young Playwrights Contest Winner ○ 2023 Harvard-Westlake Playwrights Festival 
    ○ Produced at Playwrights' Project 2024: Plays by Young Writers 
● Bakery of Love (2024), a fifteen-minute original musical 
    ○ Wrote book, lyrics, and music ○ 2023 Harvard-Westlake Playwrights Festival 
● Robomonk: Or, the Postmodern Prometheus (2021), a play in one act 
    ○ 2022 Harvard-Westlake Playwrights Festival 
    ○ 2023 Scholastic Regional Gold Key and American Voices Award Nominee 
    ○ 2023 Blank Theatre Semifinalist

Photography
● 2022 YoungArts Finalist in Photography 
    ○ Photo series: "Grandmother": https://visura.co/ianbkim/stories/grandmother-a-series-ten-parts?editor=active ○ 1 of 10 Finalists in Photography (160 Total Finalists out of ~7,000 national submissions) 
● 2022 J. Pauly Getty Museum Exhibition, "Reconnecting With Family History" ○ https://www.getty.edu/news/unshuttered-young-artists-share-the-stories-behind-th eir-winning-photographs/ 
    ○ Exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles June to October 2022 
    ○ 1 of 20 selected from 1,660 international submissions 

Voice & Theater
● Player in the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatics Club
● Studied classical voice under Dr. Steve Kronauer from 2023-2024 ● Performed the role of Sweeney Todd in Harvard-Westlake's 2023-24 production of Sweeney Todd 
● Baritone/Bass Singer, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Young Men’s Ensemble and Chorale since 2021 
    ○ Performed solos at the Disney Concert Hall 
● Soloist on 2023 Los Angeles Children's Chorus Spain Tour 
○ Performed solos at cathedrals incl. Madrid Cathedral, Burgos Cathedral 

Viola 
● Studied viola under Gina Coletti at the Colburn School of Music, Los Angeles from 2019-2024 
● Studied viola at the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute 2019-2023 
● Principal violist and soloist in the Harvard-Westlake Chamber Orchestra 
● Two masterclasses with LA Philharmonic Principal Violist Teng Li 
● American String Teachers Association Los Angeles Youth Competition 2020 - 3rd Place 
● Southern California Viola Society Youth Competition 2021 - Honorable Mention