On Thursday night, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored 19 students from colleges and universities around the world during the 45th Student Academy Awards ceremony at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. One of those honorees was CalArts Hanna Kim (Film/Video BFA 19), who took the gold medal placement for Animation (Domestic Film Schools).
Kim won for her short, The Raccoon and the Light, which follows the nighttime adventures of a raccoon who discovers a flashlight in the woods. Her award medal was presented by actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick).
During her acceptance speech, Kim thanked her parents for their everlasting support, and singled out her mother’s penchant for giving her children’s books, which served as inspiration for the film. She also thanked CalArts faculty, especially her Film Workshop Instructor Fran Krause and her mentor Andrew Bac for letting her create her own story. “They saw the importance of letting the students be the creators of their own films, from the beginning to the end of this film.”
And lastly, she gave a shout out to her CalArts friends and classmates who were the “best and honest critiques I could ever asked for. I thank you for teaching me to have nerves of steel when I wanted to give up.”
Taking silver and bronze in the animation (domestic) category were “Daisy” by Yu Yu from the University of Southern California and “Re-Gifted” by Eaza Shukla from Ringling College of Art and Design.
View Kim’s acceptance speech below.