Spending his school years in Chile and America, Music Director Bang Jun-suk formed a rock group, “U&Me Blue” with Yi Sung-yol in 1994. He debuted as a singer-songwriter, and produced prominent Korean singers, Kim Yoon-ah and Yim Jae-beom’s music albums. In 1999, he composed film music for the movie, Tell Me Something (1999), which made his name known as a music director. He is best known for composing the OST music for Joint Security Area (2000), Who Are U? (2002), You Are My Sunshine (2005), Radio Star (2006), Heartbeat (2011), The Throne (2015), and Veteran (2015).

Actress and model Hanna Chan is one of Hong Kong’s most sought-after new talents. She first burst into the scene with her performance as Louis Koo’s missing daughter in Wilson Yip’s Paradox (NYAFF 2018). Her potential was quickly recognized with a nomination for “Best New Performer” at the 37th Hong Kong Film Awards. Following this success, she was cast in various exciting films including G Affairs, In Love with Monster, Where All Roads End and TV series such as Afterlife Firm. Hanna has modelled for world renowned heritage fashion houses such as Dior, and was also spokesperson for Sony, Canon and MaBelle.

A trained professional singer and creative educator, Crisel began her artistic journey as a child musical theatre performer at age 10, becoming one of the youngest professional actors in Repertory Philippines. She then moved on to TV and stage such as Fame, and Beauty and the Beast. Still Human, her movie debut, has earned critical acclaim and a nomination for Best Actress and Best New Performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Through her dynamic portrayal of Evelyn, a caregiver who refuses to be constrained by her circumstances, Crisel aspires to break through stereotypes and encourage understanding between people across social and cultural groups. Born and raised in the Philippines, she now calls Hong Kong home.

For the past decade, Eguchi Kan has earned acclaim for his advertising and TV drama direction; in 2018, he made his feature debut with Riding Uphill, about professional bicycle racers. Eguchi won top awards for three years running at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, was named a “Director to Watch 2009” by Boards magazine (Canada), and served as a judge of America’s Clio Awards from 2010-2013. In 2013, he directed Japan’s successful PR film pitch for the Tokyo Olympics, as well as his first TV drama, Mentai Piriri, which swept Japan’s broadcast awards. He went on to direct more TV dramas, one of which, The Song of the Dragonlike Soul, proved a surprise hit on DVD release. Even more surprising: the hilariously deadpan brilliance of Eguchi’s second feature, the comedy actioner The Fable.

Gary Tseng has worked in film investment and production for years, and is the CEO of the production company Film Mall Co. He has worked on several popular films including The Winds of September (2008), the Giddens Ko penned The Killer Who Never Kills (2011) and Silent Code (2012). In 2018, he produced the Taiwanese fortune telling documentary A Journey With Invisible Friends by Mitch Lin. Inspired by their mutual love of comedy the two made their narrative feature directorial debut together, co-helming Someone in the Clouds, a humorous take on how people turn to Tarot cards to solve their problems.

Guan Yadi is a film producer with over 20 years of experience including development, production, post-production, marketing, publicity and distribution. With a degree in film production from the Beijing Film Academy and a masters in literature, Guan has utilized his many skills in a multitude of projects. He has worked with directors such as John Woo, Ning Hao, Zhang Yibai and Cheng Er, has produced successful feature films including Assembly and Wind Blast, and hosted and produced talk shows, including a series about his own pursuits as an ultra runner. He is the founder and CEO of Beijing Courage Culture Media Co., committed to developing mainstream genre films. His latest production, the much anticipated sci-fi film Pathfinder is scheduled for release later this year.

Huang Chao-liang is one of Taiwan’s most successful directors in recent years. His films, Hanky Panky and The Wonderful Wedding were both huge domestic box office hits. He is known for his artistic portrayal of everyday life in films that are both genuine and emotionally charged. About his new feature Huang says, “Although it is very brutal at times, Han Dan is inspired by a unique and spiritually powerful ceremonial rite from the place I grew up. After six years of fieldwork, based on some true stories in Taitung, I wanted to talk about bullying, poverty, drug-use, policy issues, the urban-rural dichotomy, how human nature is reflected by these social issues, and why these people are willing to endure these painful traditions.”

Huang Huang graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy in 2008 and later went on to get his MFA in directing there. His short No Country for Chicken, about martial arts schools and anti-intellectuals in China, won a prize at the Locarno International Film Festival. Wushu Orphan is his feature debut, made a decade after developing the short into a more complete and mature film, drawn from his own experience questioning traditional teaching methods. It won the 1st Youth Director Support Program prize, organized by the China Film Directors' Guild. Shot on location at a 2-minute walk from the Shaolin Temple with actual students from martial arts schools, the film also won the Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival, Asian Future section, an award that is given to promising new directors.

Kim Yoon-seok had a successful career as a stage actor long before he started to appear in films and television. His big screen breakthrough was Tazza: The High Rollers, with his acclaimed supporting performance as a ruthless gambler. This was followed by his leading role in Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser (2008) as the morally ambiguous ex-cop-turned-pimp after a serial killer for which he won several awards. Kim has since become a star in South Korea, with notable performances in films such as Running Turtle (2009), The Yellow Sea (2010), Punch (2011), The Thieves (2012), Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013), Sea Fog (2014), The Priests (NYAFF 2016) and 1987: When the Day Comes (NYAFF 2018 Star Asia Award). He challenged himself with his directorial debut, Another Child. About completing this film Kim said, “Happiness from producing and completing a film with an experienced staff and irreplaceable actors is incomparable to anything else.” He added, “I‘m grateful to the cast and crew who were fully immersed in the production all the way through.

Komatsu Nana is on the cusp of superstardom in Japan, in demand not only as an actress but also known as an influencer and fashion icon. Martin Scorsese recognized her appeal early on, choosing her for a small role in Silence (2016); and as the kickass heroine of Samurai Marathon, she proves why she deserved the recognition. Komatsu made her film debut just 5 short years ago, playing Yakusho Koji’s wild daughter in Nakashima Tetsuya’s The World of Kanako (2014). She was honored with many acting awards and won the Japan Academy Prize for Rookie of the Year. She then chose to follow an unusual path: rather than appearing in dozens of films and TV shows, which is typical for Japan’s up-and-coming actors, she has selected projects carefully and taken roles that demonstrate an impressive versatility in one so young (she is just 23). Among other notable titles, she has starred in Bakuman (2015), Prophecy (2015), Destruction Babies (2016), Drowning Love (2016) and It Comes (2018).

A graduate of Seoul Institute of the Arts, Koo Kyo-hwan directed several short films, such as Turtles (2011), Where is My DVD? (2013) and Now Playing (2014, co-directed with Yi Ok-seop). He has also made a mark for his roles in indie features and shorts and was awarded Actor of the Year at Busan International Film Festival for this achievement in Jane (NYAFF 2017), in which his striking portrayal of the titular transgender woman is described as a milestone in the depiction of LGBTQ characters in Korean cinema. Koo worked on Maggie’s screenplay with director Yi, and also credited as co-editor, producer and lead actor.

Born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam, Leon Lê moved to the US at the age of 13. An accomplished actor, dancer, singer with credits including Broadway, film and TV, he always had a passion for filmmaking. As a self-taught filmmaker (writer, director, editor), his shorts Dawn and Talking to My Mother, gained him attention at film festivals, garnering awards including Best LGBT short film, Best Director. Song Lang is Lê’s first feature film, an elaboration of his interrupted upbringing in Vietnam and nostalgic tribute to his beloved Cai-luong. Coincidentally, the film was completed in 2018, on the 100th year anniversary of this wonderfully unique theatrical art form. Leon currently lives in NY and Vietnam.

Tim League graduated from Rice University in 1992 with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Art/Art History. After a two-year stint at Shell Oil in Bakersfield, California, Tim left the engineering profession and opened up his first movie theater, the Tejon Theater. When that theater closed after a short run in 1995, he and his wife Karrie loaded a truck with 200 seats, a projector, screen, and speakers and headed to Austin. They founded Alamo Drafthouse in 1997, where as CEO League remains committed to providing creative programming and a zero tolerance policy for disruption during the theater experience. League also co-founded Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the United States, and Neon, the newest powerhouse in US Film Distribution with titles such as Colossal and I, Tonya.

Lee Cheuk-pan started his career assisting numerous veteran Hong Kong directors. In 2010, he assisted Steven Soderbergh on Contagion in Hong Kong. Since 2005, his short films won several overseas awards. Speaking of his directorial debut, G Affairs (2018), which won the sole award in the CreateHK's 3rd First Feature Film Initiative Open Category, he says: “G Affairs is our vision in response to what Hong Kong has become; it depicts how rare normalcy has become in this city - where humanistic concerns have turned into indifference, where hypocrisy and oppression rule, and where distorted values subsume the new generation.” The film was awarded Film of Merit 2018 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society and received 6 nominations at the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards including Best New Director.

Kyle Li is an actor from Hong Kong and a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy. In 2012, he participated in his first drama called DIY2K and a youth idol drama series Y2K produced by RTHK. In 2014, he participated in Somewhere Beyond the Mist, the feature debut by acclaimed documentary director Cheung King-wai. His feature roles also include Timing, Our Seventeen, Members Only and others.

Kenneth Lim Dagatan is an independent Filipino filmmaker and writer, best known for directing and writing his award-winning first short film, Sanctissima (2015); it was premiered at the 11th Cinemalaya Philippines Independent Film Festival where it won the audience choice award, as well as awards at other film festivals, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director. His feature film, Ma (2018), was well received by the critics locally during Cinema One Originals Film Festival where it launched, and this striking horror debut will have its international premiere at NYAFF.

Mitch Lin graduated from National Taiwan University and the Graduate School for Theatre Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts. He had worked as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Chinese Literature at the Chinese Culture University and editor-in-chief at Men’s Health. After publishing a novel, Lin participated in the screen adaption of The Killer Who Never Kills and co-wrote David Loman. After he made his name in scriptwriting, Lin directed his first feature documentary, A Journey with Invisible Friends in 2018. Someone in the Clouds is Lin’s debut feature film co-directed with Gary Tseng, and the script was co-written with the celebrated Tarot card reader Weng Shi-bei.

Moon Sung-ho hails from Hiroshima. After graduating from high school, he studied filmmaking in South Korea and then returned to Japan to shoot commercials and short films. In 2013, he was selected by the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) for the prestigious New Directions in Japanese Cinema project, which invites young creative talents to shoot films on 35mm. Moon wrote and directed the 2014 short Michizure, about a package delivery that goes awry. He has now made a remarkably assured feature debut with the unusual but endearing dramedy 5 Million Dollar Life.

Nojiri Katsumi honed his skills as an assistant director with such luminary mentors as Toyoda Toshiaki (Blue Spring, 2002; Hanging Garden, 2005), Kumakiri Kazuyoshi (Bullet Over Tears, 2007; Sketches of Kaitan City, 2010) Omori Tatsushi (A Crowd of Three, 2010; Tada’s Do-It-All House, 2011; Seto and Utsumi, 2015), Takeuchi Hideki (Thermae Romae, 2012), Ishii Yuya (The Great Passage, 2013) and Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Three Stories of Love, 2014). He also directed several direct-to-video releases, as well as the 2012 TV series Chat Noir Lucy. His big-screen debut, Lying to Mom, is semi-autobiographical, and earned him the Japanese Cinema Splash Best Film award at the 2018 Tokyo International Film Festival.

Park Noo-ri was an assistant director on Ryoo Seung-wan’s Berlin File (NYAFF 2013) and The Unjust (NYAFF 2013). Money, her directorial debut (and screenplay) is a crime drama based on dangerous stock market scams, portraying a person’s transformation via finance. She explains that money is always a priority in this world, giving people both hope and agony. Although the stock market proved a challenging subject, she believes it was the best way to get her message across. She spent one year commuting every day to the financial district of Yeouido for research, where she would work on the script in coffee shops while observing firsthand the patterns and preoccupations of traders.

As President & CEO of Well Go USA, Inc. Doris has been with the company since it was founded in 1991 and currently oversees acquisitions and strategic development. Over the course of 25+ years, Doris has been instrumental in building Well Go from a start-up company to a full-service film distribution studio. Under Doris’s guidance, Well Go has become a leader in Asian film distribution with the acquisition and release of the Ip Man franchise, box office hits Wolf Warrior 2, Operation Red Sea and Train to Busan, as well as critically acclaimed movies Burning (Lee Chang-dong), The Assassin (Ho Hsiou-Hsien) and The Wailing (Na Hong-jin).

London-born Bernard Rose was already a BBC award-winning filmmaker by the age of 15, before stints on Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show and in 1981, The Dark Crystal. After earning a Master's from the National Film and Television School, he directed MTV videos for the likes of UB40, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Roy Orbison and Roger Waters; then directed TV films for the BBC. Rose made his feature debut with the dark fantasy Paperhouse (1988), and came to American attention with the 1992 cult horror classic Candyman, with music by Philip Glass. Rose then wrote and directed several critically acclaimed titles, including Immortal Beloved (1994), Anna Karenina (1997) Ivans xtc, (2000), and Two Jacks (2012, his fifth Leo Tolstoy adaptation). He shot the Japanese-language Samurai Marathon in rural Japan, teaming up once again with Philip Glass and his frequent collaborator, actor Danny Huston.

Ryu Jun-yeol made his screen debut in the short film Midnight Sun (2014). He earned critical acclaim for his first feature role in Socialphobia (NYAFF 2015), a Korean Academy of Film Arts feature graduation project. He was hailed as ‘a new talent armed with undisputed acting skills’. The same year, proving his sudden popularity, Ryu emerged as one of the leading characters in the big hit television drama Reply 1988. He then made his breakthrough in 2017, first in the historical film The King, which won him the Best New Actor award in film at the Baeksang Arts Awards, followed by the biopic A Taxi Driver, which became the highest grossing Korean film of the year. In 2018 Ryu’s star continued to rise as he appeared in Little Forest (NYAFF 2018), headlined the crime thriller Believer and starred in Park Noo-ri’s stock market scam thriller Money. He will next be seen in Won Shin-yun’s historical action epic Battle.

NYAFF welcomes back cult auteur Sabu (born Tanaka Hiroyuki), oft imitated but never equaled, with two singular cinematic treats, Mr. Long (2017) and Jam (2018). After a decade-long career as an actor, with his first starring role in Otomo Katsuhiro’s World Apartment Horror (1991), Sabu burst on the world stage with his wildly kinetic directorial debut, Dangan Runner, in 1996. A mainstay at international film festivals ever since, he has continued to explore the lives of everyday antiheroes with trademark inventiveness across a range of coincidence-driven, blackly humorous titles, including Postman Blues (1997), Blessing Bell (2002), Kanikosen: The Crab Cannery Ship (2009), Miss Zombie (2013), Chasuke's Journey (NYAFF 2015 Centerpiece Film) and Happiness (NYAFF 2017).

Jacen Tan is an independent film director. Hailed as one of Singapore’s most exciting young filmmakers, his first short film, Tak Giu (Kick Ball), became a viral hit on the internet, with over 100,000 views, in pre-YouTube days. He then completed the “Zo” comedy trilogy: Zo Peng (Go Army), Zo Gang (Go Work) & Zo Hee (Make Movie), cemented by a DVD compilation of his short films (Hosaywood, 2011), shaping his popularity with a unique sense of local humor and use of slang. After 7 years in the making, Jacen combined his love for horror comedy and his experiences from serving in the army to make his first feature film, Zombiepura.

Kieu Trinh is known as one of the "go to" Vietnamese actresses for independent and art house films, With no professional acting background, she was discovered by director Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh for his first feature film The Buffalo Boy. The film won critical acclaim and launched Kieu Trinh's acting career. Since then, she has starred in more than 50 TV series and 10 feature films. Her daughter Thanh Tu is also one of the rising stars in Vietnam. Song Lang is the 6th film this mother-daughter duo both appeared together in.

Wu Nan, Chinese screenwriter and director, graduated from Beijing Film Academy, majoring in Film Directing. Her best-known films as a screenwriter include Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), Derek Tsang’s Soul Mate (NYAFF 2018), and Ning Hao’s Crazy Alien (2019). Push And Shove, her directorial debut, is a smart comedy of manners, exposing the best and worst sides of human nature where a Beijing screenwriter seeks justice after his pet dog is brutally injured by the neighbor's Tibetan mastiff. Wu is the Associate Professor at The Central Academy of Drama, teaching screenwriting and directing.

Yi Ok-seop graduated from Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA). She debuted in 2010, her many short movies include RAZ on Air (2012), A Dangerous Woman (2014), Girls on Top (2017). Her first feature, Maggie, is the 14th film project officially supported by the National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea, as it touches upon several social issues, like spy-cam porn, unemployment, real estate and city redevelopment, that often make the headlines in South Korea. Featuring renowned actress Moon So-ri, the film won the Citizen Critics’ Award at the Busan International Film Festival and the Grand Prix at the Osaka Asian Film Festival.

Hong Kong action choreographer and director extraordinaire Yuen Woo-ping is perhaps best known to Western audiences for his work on The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Kill Bill. The extremely prolific Yuen comes from a family of martial artist performers and started as an actor and stuntman in the ’60s. In 1978, he made his phenomenal directorial debut with the smash hit Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, followed quickly with even greater success by Drunken Master_ — the two films that not only made Jackie Chan an international star but practically created the indelible kung-fu comedy genre. His filmography is a treasure trove of kung-fu classics marked by innovations in fight choreography and hyperkinetic genre stylings. Screening in the festival are the seminal Donnie Yen vehicle Iron Monkey (on 35mm), now a classic of the ’90s “New Wave” of kung fu; the brand-new Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, an exciting entry in the popular Ip Man film series, starring Max Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, and Tony Jaa; and The Miracle Fighters, Yuen’s first of several absolutely crazy meldings of kung fu, fantasy, and comedy that must be seen to be believed.