Kangmin Kim is a filmmaker and designer who holds both a BFA and MFA from CalArts’ Experimental Animation program.
He has a depth of experience in both stop motion and motion graphics; his work often combines handcrafted characters with digitally designed backgrounds. Kangmin has been sharing his unique approach to animation as an instructor at CalArts since 2021, serving as a thesis advisor for MFA students, teaching stop motion classes, and pioneering a structure map method.
Kangmin's recently completed trio of animated shorts inspired by his memories (DEER FLOWER, JEOM, and KKUM) have made him one of today's most highly awarded contemporary animators. His films have screened at the four major animated film festivals (Annecy, Ottawa, Hiroshima, Zagreb) and at some of the film industry's most prominent festivals, including Sundance, AFI, and SXSW.
His most recent film, KKUM, won the Grand Prize for Short Animation as well as the Public Prize (voted on by all festival attendees) at the 2020 Ottawa International Animation Festival, marking just the third time OIAF's nearly 50-year history that the same film has won both prizes.