Kim Spurlock

Director Kim Spurlock traces her roots to Vietnam and Appalachia, and often draws from family folklore to create stories about life, love and death.

In addition to Down in Number 5, her films include Afternoon, a "quietly beautiful film about death, spirits and the importance of family bonds..." - San Francisco International Film Festival. The film premiered at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival and went on to win numerous awards, including the Jury Prize at the Vietnamese International Film Festival. Other films include Uta, which premiered at the Munich International Film Schools Festival where it won 1st Place in the "Gestures of Reconcilation" competition, and Fish, which earned Kim a trip to Tokyo for the Short Shorts International Film Festival.

Before earning her MFA in Film Directing at New York University, Kim studied anthropology in Nashville, TN, worked as a bicycle courier in Washington, DC, and shot a documentary in Sofia, Bulgaria.

She is the recipient of the 2005 Sara Driver Award, the 2009 Martin E. Segal Prize and the 2009 Haig P. Manoogian Award.