KAREN SCHMEER FILM EDITING FELLOWSHIP

APPLICATION

 

ACE is very proud to support the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship Award program.

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Karen Schmeer, A.C.E., was one of the leading film editors of her generation. A native of Portland, Oregon, Karen had always been an avid lover of film. After graduating from Boston University, where she studied anthropology, Karen began working with Errol Morris as a researcher.

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She began her remarkable career by editing a film that Morris had feared was “completely uneditable,” 1997’s Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control. Her extraordinary success — weaving four disparate characters’ stories into a poetic symphony of human emotion, sheer whimsy, and questions about the meaning of life — marked the beginning of a·decade-long collaboration with Morris. Their work together includes some of the most exciting documentary films in recent times: the Academy Award-Winning·Fog of War; the controversial Mr. Death; and the groundbreaking IFC series First Person.
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This fellowship is dedicated to honoring her memory, as we aim to give our fellows the same level of care and inspiration that Karen provided for so many.
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To read more about the Fellowship, visit: http://www.karenschmeer.com

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To Donate Online: 

 

To Donate by Mail, please make checks to “ACE Educational Center”
Important: Write “Karen Schmeer Fellowship” in the memo line.

Karen Schmeer Fellowship
c/o ACE Educational Center
5555 Melrose Ave
Marx Brothers Bldg., Room #108
Los Angeles, CA 90038

CHRISTINA SUN KIM
2020 Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellow
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Christina Sun Kim is a Los Angeles-based editor who grew up in South Korea and the Midwest of the United States. Her work has screened at SXSW, CAAMFest, the Jeonju International Film Festival, the Documentary Channel and PBS. She discovered her love of editing while studying documentary filmmaking at the University of Texas at Austin and soon after graduation, edited “Tattooed Under Fire,” an ITVS-funded film about Iraq veterans and their emotional scars.
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After receiving an MFA from UCLA, Kim was named a Film Independent Project Involve fellow and spent time producing and editing short social justice documentaries, collaborating with Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmakers and a network of community organizers throughout California. Her short “The Migration Continues,” which chronicles a group of DREAMers fighting to defend DACA, was a finalist for the 2018 Shorty Awards. “Land of My Father,” a film about two lives that are intertwined with a remote disputed island, marks her return to long-form documentary editing.
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As a storyteller, Kim has focused on bringing humanity to misunderstood populations in hidden sectors of our society and around the world. She is currently working on So Yun Um’s feature documentary, “Liquor Store Dreams,” the director’s personal journey of racial reconciliation in the face of a fading generation of Korean-owned liquor stores in Los Angeles.
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After learning that she had been chosen for this year’s fellowship, Kim said, “I am living my dream right now through the Karen Schmeer Emerging Editor Fellowship. The opportunity comes to me after a time of soul searching and recommitting to my dream of being a documentary editor. To be welcomed into such a uniquely supportive community comprised of amazingly talented yet generous filmmakers is a tremendous honor and encouragement to me. In the coming year, I look forward to furthering my craft as an artist as I learn from my mentors. Particularly in light of the challenges of 2020, I also feel compelled and inspired to do more in proactively building an inclusive community, both on a personal level and as a member of the film industry. As the fellowship was established ten years ago to honor Karen Schmeer’s giving spirit, I, too, hope to reflect her kindness and compassion for all people, in my work, as well as in uplifting other editors who need the opportunity for access and exposure to achieve their dreams.”
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