Director Hahm Hee-yoon’s Animated Film, Epicenter of Rumors (2022), Wins in the 38^th SBIFF

Director Hahm Hee-yoon, a MA of the School of Film, TV & Multimedia, obtained the Best Animated Short Film prize at the 38^th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) with Epicenter of Rumors (2022). With the win, Hahm won eligibility for the next year’s Oscars.

Epicenter of Rumors (2022) is a cel animation, drawn with a pencil, about the subtle border between illusion and reality. It portrays a story provoked by the earthquake of Bukhan Mountain in a mundane life. Earlier, the work earned production funding by taking first in the on-campus competition held to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of K-Arts on the theme of “What is Art.”

Epicenter of Rumors (2022) had already gained recognition last year by being officially invited to the 23^rd Jeonju International Film Festival in the Korean Short Film Competition. The work was well-received for its hyper-realistically exquisite images located somewhere between the animation and painting despite being only drawn with a pencil, itself demonstrating an advanced form of animation.

The SBIFF is one of the representative film festivals in North America continued since 1986. The winner of the Best Animated Short Film acquires a nomination for the next year’s Academy Award.