Kathrin Steinbacher is a multi-award-winning and BAFTA-nominated animation director, illustrator, filmmaker, and educator based between London and Salzburg. She is one half of Studio Desk Animation, an animation production company based in London. Since 2025, she has also been a member of the Film Advisory Board for Innovative Film at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport (BMWKMS).

Her films have been screened at festivals around the world, including Slamdance, Ann Arbor, LIAF and Tricky Women Festival. Her graduation film In Her Boots (2019, Royal College of Art) was nominated for a BAFTA.

Kathrin finds depth in the vast variety of people, opinions and cultures by combining narrative and documentary approaches throughout her work. Motivated by addressing complex social issues and raising awareness, she uses observation, research and visual storytelling as the foundation of her practice. Her work is characterised by a strong focus on design, character development and lived experience, with many of her narratives inspired by personal stories.

She graduated from Kingston School of Art in 2017 and completed her Master's in Documentary Animation at the Royal College of Art in 2019.

Awards/Recognition —

2015 Romulus Candea Children’s Book Prize - Shortlisted for my book The Magic Pen
2016 'Sprungbrettwoche' Selected Illustrator for Picture Book competition week at "Schneiderhäusl" with Renate Habinger
2017 Winner of Kingston Animation Prize for Penguin Random House                                                                                       2017 Romulus Candea Children’s Book Prize - Shortlisted for my book The Bogeyman/ Der Krallowich  2018 Best Austrian Animation for The Woman Who Turned Into A Castle, 2 Days Animation Festival
2019 Best Student Film for The Woman Who Turned Into A Castle, Under The Radar Festival 2019 Vimeo Staff Pick for The Woman Who Turned Into A Castle 2020 Österreichische Kurzfilmrundschau (Kurzfilme, die sich für das Auswahlverfahren zum Österreichischen Filmpreis qualifiziert haben) The Woman Who Turned Into A Castle 2020 Best British Postgrad Film (nominee) - British Animation Awards for In Her Boots
2020 British Academy Film Award (Bafta) Nomination for In Her Boots

Screenings (small selection)—

- Slamdance Festival
- Ann Arbor Festival
- Liaf - London International Animation Festival
- Diagonale
- Premier Plans Festival
- Cinanima
- Tricky Women Festival
- Anifilm
- Raindance Festival London
- Austrian Independant Film Festival
- Taichung International Film Festival
- Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival USA
- Caribbean Film Festival
- Anifest Canterbury
- Milano Film Festival
- Cinema Los Angeles
- Animated Dreams International Animation Film Festival Tallinn
- International Animated Short Film Festival AJAYU
- Two Days Animation Festival Vienna

Education & Experience —

2009-2013 Graphic Designer Bezirksblätter Salzburg
2013-2014 Art and Design Foundation Kingston University London (Distinction)
2014-2017 BA Illustration/Animation Kingston University. 2017-2019 MA at London Royal College Of Art London since 2017 since 2019 Freelance Animation Director/Illustrator

since 2020 Visiting Lecturer

2020-2024 Lecturer MA Visual Communication University for the Creative Arts

 Exhibitions —

2014 Kingston University Art & Design Foundation Show 2014
2017 More Show. Collaborative Illustration Animation Show at Oxo Tower Bargehouse London 2017 2019 MA London Royal College Of Art Graduation Show                                                                                                                       

Speaker —

2019 Women in Animation Panel, Kingston School of Art Graduation show
2019 Under the Radar Conference - Below the surface. Abstraction in Animation.
2020 Panel: Why in 2020 we are still struggling to reach gender equality in independent cinema.                                                                                                                        

Interviews & Press —

German

Die Presse

Podcast Talk mit Paul I

Podcast Talk mit Paul II

ORF

Bezirksblätter

Salzburger Nachrichten

Creative Review

Robot Wednesday

Salzburger Nachrichten

Bezirksblätter

English

Quickdraw Animation

Zippy Frames

Cartoon Brew

The New Current

Interview with Mike Mauthor

Why Now

Interview with Mike Mauthor