AAIFF49 Jurors & Awards
| NARRATIVE FEATURE – Emerging Director
Nominees: AFTERWORD, AKASHI, WHISPERINGS OF THE MOON Excellence in Narrative Short Filmmaking Nominees: BOUNDARIES, BUAH (FRUIT), ITALIANO, SONIA HONEY, WE BUY GOLD |
  
Winnie Cheung |
| Aimee Kuge Aimee Kuge is an award-winning Japanese-American filmmaker crafting thought-provoking genre stories. Her debut feature, CANNIBAL MUKBANG—which she wrote, directed, and produced—premiered at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. It went on to win Best Director at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival and was nominated for two Fangoria Chainsaw Awards in 2025. |
| Jinho Myung Jinho Myung is a filmmaker from California now living in New York. His debut feature film SOFTSHELL was awarded the Grand Jury Award in Belfort. In 2025, Myung was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” |
|
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Emerging Director Nominees: THE ACT OF DREAMING, THE COLOUR OF MY HEART, SOUTHEAST ASIAN AMERICAN JOURNEYS Excellence in Documentary Short Filmmaking Nominees: DAILY WORKER, GRANDMA’S FOUR COLOR CARDS, HUONG, I SEE MYSELF IN YOU, SEA SONG |
  
Beth Aala |
| Evelyn Hang Yin Evelyn Hang Yin is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Working at the intersection of personal and collective archives, Yin is invested in history, (dis)placement, diasporic memories, and futures. |
| Elizabeth Yoo Elizabeth Yoo is a Korean-American writer and fine-artist specializing in key art for physical media. Her work for Academy Award-winning director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY was named one of the best movie posters by Letterboxd. She has illustrated Blu-ray covers for Tsai Ming-liang’s VIVE L’AMOUR and Masayuki Suo’s SHALL WE DANCE? You can find her socials @ElizabethYooArt. |
| ONE TO WATCH YOUTH FILMMAKER
Nominees: BACK THEN,DISEASE, HEART AND SOL, MOTHER’S RECIPE, SATKANKUL, SEARCHING FOR COLOR, A STORY OF NANJING |
  
Stephen Lee |
| Isabel Sandoval Isabel Sandoval has emerged as “one of the most exciting and multitalented filmmakers on the indie scene with a bold approach to cinematic style,” according to The Criterion Collection. The Museum of Modern Art has recognized her as a “rarity among the young generation of Filipino filmmakers.” Her debut, Señorita, premiered at Locarno. Her critically acclaimed third feature, Lingua Franca, premiered in Venice and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. |
| Patrick Wang Patrick Wang was born in Texas to Taiwanese immigrants. He is the director of the films IN THE FAMILY, THE GRIEF OF OTHERS, A BREAD FACTORY, and A. RIMBAUD. He is also a poetry translator and curator of photography. |
| Sean Wang Sean Wang is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker from the Bay Area. His work has screened at film festivals including Sundance, SXSW, and TIFF. His feature directorial debut, DÌDI (弟弟), premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award, Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast, and was acquired by Focus Features for a global theatrical release. The film was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick, nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards—winning Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature—and was recognized as one of the Top Ten Independent Films of 2024 by the National Board of Review. |
| ASIAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
Nominees: Fay’s Chinatown Cafe, No Easy Way Down, Sincerely Yours |
  
Haley Chung |
| Mia Chung Mia Chung is a writer for theatre, TV, and film. This summer, her play CATCH AS CATCH CAN premiered in Chicago in Steppenwolf’s 50th season and was published in a special issue of Yale’s Theater magazine. Her theatre work also includes YOU FOR ME FOR YOU, which had a UK premiere at the Royal Court and was published by Bloomsbury Methuen. She also wrote for Season 1 of THE DIPLOMAT and Seasons 3 and 4 of THE SINNER. |
| Nelson Kim Nelson Kim wrote and directed the award-winning independent feature film SOMEONE ELSE, which was hailed by the LA Weekly as “a tense, unexpectedly moving psychological study of a man’s unraveling.” He is currently at work on his new feature, THREE TALES, an anthology film starring William Jackson Harper, Jackie Chung, Louis Ozawa, Celia Au, Teresa Avia Lim, Aaron Yoo, and Kristen Connolly. Nelson writes film criticism for Filmmaker Magazine, Hammer To Nail, Senses of Cinema, among others. |
| SIKAY TANG CRITICAL LENS AWARD
Nominees: THE ACT OF DREAMING, UNCOMMITTED, A SEAT AT THE TABLE |
  
Katharine Garrison |
| Nancy Tong Nancy M. Tong has worked in film for more than 50 years. After moving to New York in 1981, she held major positions at ACV, and produced award-winning feature films exploring the Chinese American experience. Since 1989, she has focused primarily on documentary films. Among her many films are WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN, IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR, and TRAILBLAZERS IN HABITS. She also taught documentary production in Hong Kong, and has trained Muslim women filmmakers in China, Iran, Indonesia, and Pakistan. |
| Michael Uys Michael Uys (pronounced “ace”) is an award-winning filmmaker and television commercial director. Michael’s Emmy Award winning documentary THE GOOD SOLDIER, co-directed with Lexy Lovell, opened nationwide to widespread acclaim. THE GOOD SOLDIER was picked up for theatrical distribution by Artistic License Films and presented by Bill Moyers on PBS. The film won multiple awards including the Emmy Award for Long Form Documentary and The Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary. THE GOOD SOLDIER was edited by Sikay Tang. |
