Hong Kong actress Natalie Hsu will receive the Screen International Rising Star Award at NYAFF 2025 for her brief but astonishing career, which immediately established her as a talent to watch. Natalie made her film debut in the musical comedy The Day We Lit Up the Sky in 2021, and went on to appear in such commercially and critically acclaimed titles as Sasha Chuk’s Fly Me to the Moon (NYAFF 2024), the Andy Lau-starring _Cesium Fallou_t, Nick Cheung’s Peg O’ My Heart, and Dante Lam’s Bursting Point. She will present two very special new films at NYAFF 2025: Chong Keat Aun’s Pavane for an Infant and Jill Leung’s Last Song for You, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards. She will reunite with Chong Keat Aun for the upcoming drama Mother Bhumi, which stars Fan Bingbing.

Iconic Hong Kong actor Ekin Cheng will receive the Star Asia Award at NYAFF 2025. The honor celebrates his remarkable 37-year career across film, music, and television. Coinciding with the North American premiere of Cheng’s newest feature, Last Song For You, a stirring expression of grief, memory, and midlife reflection, the festival is also hosting a special retrospective 35mm screening of one of his earliest hits, Andrew Lau’s Young and Dangerous (1996), marking its 30th anniversary. Cheng made his acting debut in the film as a teenager, and it shot him to film stardom, as well as launching a franchise. He went on to star in more than 60 films, including fantasy epics The Storm Riders (1998) and A Man Called Hero (1999), romantic comedies like My Wife Is 18 (2002),_ _and dark thrillers like Rule Number One (2008), for which he won Best Actor at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, and blockbuster Golden Job (2018, $22.7M China opening), which reunited the cast from the Young and Dangerous series. Cheng’s storied career spans genre-defining films even as he’s continued performing in sold-out concert tours around the world.

Heaven Peralejo came to prominence in 2016 through the reality show “Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7.” Following supporting roles in several TV series and films, she received wider recognition for her performance in the 2022 film Nanahimik ang Gabi. Her accolades include a Luna Award and an Asian Academy Creative Award, as well as nominations from the FAMAS Awards, Metro Manila Film Festival, The EDDYS, PMPC Star Awards for Television and PMPC Star Awards for Movies. She won her first Best Actress award at the 39th Luna Awards. In 2024, she starred in the Philippine adaptation of the South Korean movie Sunny. She will present her latest film, Lilim, at NYAFF 2025.

Legendary Chinese American actress and cultural icon Lisa Lu was born in Beijing and came to the US in 1947. From her early days as a Kunqu opera performer to her indelible impact on film and television in the U.S., Hong Kong, and mainland China, Lu has become a bridge between cultures, traditions, and generations. After moving to Los Angeles, she began her professional acting career in 1958 at the Pasadena Playhouse. Lu's screen debut came during the golden era of American television, and in 1960, she starred opposite Jimmy Stewart in The Mountain Road. Lu rose to prominence in the 1970s through Hong Kong cinema, winning three Golden Horse Awards, including Best Actress for The Arch (1970) and The Empress Dowager (1975), and Best Supporting Actress for The 14 Amazons (1972). She starred in The Last Emperor (1987), The Joy Luck Club (1993), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), American Born Chinese (2023) and Death and Other Details (2024). On May 5, 2025, Lisa Lu became the oldest person ever to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—an honor befitting her status as a living legend of world cinema. She will be honored with two awards — the AANHPI Vanguard Award and the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award — in recognition of a groundbreaking career spanning seven decades that has left an indelible mark on film history, not only entertaining and inspiring audiences but also elevating the cultural and artistic profile of Asian cinema on the world stage.

Mikhail Red began making short films when he was 15 years old, and six years later directed his microbudget feature debut, Rekorder, about a once-professional cinematographer who compulsively records everything, only to capture a murder. It won five international awards including Best New Director at the 2014 Vancouver International Film Festival. His radically different second feature, Birdshot, a slow-burning ecological thriller, won the Best Asian Feature Film Award at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival. Together with Birdshot producer Pamela L. Reyes, Red developed Lost Dahlias, about a young housemaid faced with the twin horrors of martial law and her American employer. His third feature, Neomanila, was a mother-and-son tale about the Metro Manila death squads. Dead Kids (2019) was the first Netflix original film from the Philippines. Deleter (2022), broke box office records and won seven awards at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival including Best Picture and Best Director. His latest work is the dark horror film Lilim.

Jill Leung is a Hong Kong screenwriter and emerging filmmaker. He has worked as a screenwriter on renowned franchise sequels such as Soi Cheang’s _SPL II: A Time for Consequences (aka Kill Zone 2,_ 2015) and Ip Man 3 (2015), and has worked for several years alongside Wilson Yip. Last Song for You, which he is presenting at NYAFF 2025, is his first feature as a director.

Chong Keat Aun is a multi-award-winning Malaysian writer-director. His first short, Cemetery of Courtesy (2017), was shortlisted for the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. His directorial debut, The Story of Southern Islet (2020), earned him the award for Best New Director and the FIPRESCI Prize and NETPAC Prize at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards. His sophomore feature, Snow in Midsummer, premiered at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival and received the Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film at last year's NYAFF. Pavane for an Infant is his third feature film.

Hedwig Tam made her film debut in Weeds on Fire (2016), receiving a nomination for Best New Performer at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards. She went on to star in The First Girl I Loved (NYAFF 2021) and Hong Kong Family (2022), among other films. In 2025, she won Best Actress at the 31st Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards and received a nomination for Best Actress at the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in Montages of a Modern Motherhood (2024). In 2025, she starred in Smashing Frank.