Andrew Ahn is a queer Korean American filmmaker from Los Angeles. His latest feature, Fire Island (Searchlight Pictures), starring Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho, streams on Hulu and received the Ensemble Tribute at the 2023 Gotham Awards. His second feature, Driveways, premiered at the 2019 Berlinale and earned two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Ahn has directed television for Netflix, FX, HBO Max, CBS, Sundance Channel, and KCET. He holds degrees from Brown University and CalArts. NYAFF will present the 10th Anniversary of his debut feature, Spa Night, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, won a Special Jury Award.

Chihiro Amano was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from university and working in the corporate sector, she began making films in 2009. Her feature film Mrs. Noisy (2019), which she wrote and directed, was selected for the Japanese Cinema Splash section at the Tokyo International Film Festival and won the Audience Award at JAPAN CUTS in New York. In 2025, she released Sato and Sato, starring Yukino Kishii and Hio Miyazawa. Her screenwriting credits include the animated series Kamiusagi Rope (Fuji TV), He’s Expecting (2022, Netflix), and Tengu’s Kitchen (2023, BS-TBS).

After being a school teacher for ten years, Alemberg Ang shifted into a career of film producing. Working with filmmakers mostly on their first and second features, his films seek to give cultural minorities a voice in world cinema. These films have traveled to festivals like Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Locarno and Busan, to name a few. Alemberg has participated in programmes like the Rotterdam Lab, Berlinale Talents, Tribeca Film Institute Network, Locarno Open Doors, La Fabrique Cinema, IDFA Producers Connection and EAVE Producers Workshop. His company, Daluyong Studios, has recently starting providing production services for films and series shot in the Philippines. He is a member of the Asia-Pacific Screen Academy and the Philippine Independent Producers Guild.

Ida Anita del Mundo is an award-winning Filipino American filmmaker passionate about work that is culturally relevant. Her debut film K’na, the Dreamweaver (2014) is the first feature film about the Tboli indigenous people of South Cotabato. Ida holds a Masters in Directing from the School of Visual Arts in New York. She is also a documentary film instructor with the Educational Video Center.

Veronica Bassetto is a multidisciplinary artist working across screenwriting, directing, editing, and visual design. A graduate of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design (BA(Hons) Advertising), she co-wrote the web series Extreme 17, recognized in the 2019 Outstanding Network Audiovisual Works Promotion. In 2020, she co-directed Gamer Girls, a project selected for the 6th Hong Kong Film Development Fund’s First Feature Film Initiative.

Chayanop Boonprakob graduated in Film & Still Photography from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Communication Arts in 2007. After working as a flight attendant with Thai Airways for three years, he left to pursue filmmaking. His award-winning short films established him as a rising talent before his feature debut, SuckSeed (2011), became a major hit. He followed with the successful May Who? (2015) and The Red Envelope (2025), another box-office success. His latest film, Gohan (2026), co-directed with Baz Poonpiriya and Atta Hemwadee is screening at the NYAFF where he will introduce the film.

Sze-Wei Chan is a documentary and experimental dance filmmaker who observes alternate histories, identities and social issues as expressed in the body, movement and art. They are also a choreographer, arts journalist, parent and activist for LGBTQIA+ and artists’ rights. Sze’s dance and experimental films have screened across Europe, the Americas and Asia since 2015. Mentors include Tan Pin Pin (Singapore) and Alex Reuben (UK), and they are a member of the Cinemovement Collective (Singapore) founded by Jeremy Chua and Elysa Wendi. When not making art, they are also a specialist on the legal integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 10s Across the Borders is their first feature.

Joseph Chang Hsiao-chuan, born in Taipei in 1983, broke through in Eternal Summer (2006), where his performance as a young man caught between friendship and desire earned Golden Horse nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best New Performer. He moved fluidly between film and television in the years that followed, from Yonfan’s Prince of Tears (2009) to Yang Ya-che’s Girlfriend, Boyfriend (2012), where his portrait of a man holding decades of feeling in check won Best Actor at the Taipei Film Awards and brought further regional recognition, including Golden Horse and Asian Film Awards nominations. His television work has drawn Golden Bell attention since Corner of Auction World (2006) and Love You (2011), with The Victims’ Game giving him another major showcase as forensic scientist Fang Yi-jen. Across two decades of films and series, Chang has remained one of Taiwanese cinema’s most assured leading men, equally at home in romance, crime drama, psychological thriller, and intimate character work. In Shen Ko-shang’s Deep Quiet Room (2025), he stars opposite Ariel Lin in a drama of marital composure and private collapse; the performance brought him a Best Leading Actor nomination at the 62nd Golden Horse Awards. NYAFF presents Chang with the Screen International Star Asia Award and screens Deep Quiet Room with the actor in attendance.

Chao Koi-wang was born in Macau and educated in Taiwan, and his short films have been selected for festivals around the world. His feature debut, I Blew Out the Candles Before Making a Wish (2026), co-directed with Hu Chin-yen, trades casino glitz for the residential backstreets of Macau, following a young girl and a debt collector bound by a stack of chips and a runaway father's debt. The film had its world premiere in competition at the Udine Far East Film Festival and screened in the Taipei Film Festival's International New Talent Competition.

Joan Chen began her film career in Shanghai at fourteen. Her performance in Little Flower (1979) won her China’s Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress and made her a star before she turned twenty. She left China for the United States in 1981 and has built a screen career spanning more than four decades, with roles in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), David Lynch’s Twin Peaks (1990), Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution (2007), and Jiang Wen’s The Sun Also Rises (2007). She has won Best Actress twice at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, for Red Rose, White Rose (1994) and The Home Song Stories (2007). Her performance in Sean Wang’s Dìdi, which premiered at Sundance in 2024 and won both the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and the Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble, brought a new generation to her work. As a director, she debuted with Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998), which swept the Golden Horse Awards with seven wins, including Best Feature Film and Best Director, and followed it with Autumn in New York (2000), starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder. She has presided over the Golden Horse jury and served on international festival juries. NYAFF presents her with the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award at the Opening Weekend Gala and screens Montreal, My Beautiful.

Cindy Cheung is an actor of stage and screen, most recently appearing in the series American Classic, Dying For Sex and The Sinner (S4). Upcoming is Stephen Chbosky’s film Weekend Warriors with Vera Farmiga and Mark Wahlberg. Originally from La Palma, CA, and an applied mathematics major at UCLA, Cheung has been an NYC citizen for over 25 years, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband, novelist Ed Lin, and their son.

Tracy Choi grew up in Macau, studied filmmaking in Taiwan, and earned her MFA in Film Production at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where her graduation film Sometimes Naive won the student prize at the FIRST International Film Festival. Her documentary I'm Here (2012) won the Jury Prize at the Macau International Film and Video Festival. Her debut feature Sisterhood won the Macao Audience Choice Award at the International Film Festival and Awards Macao and received two Hong Kong Film Awards nominations, and she followed it with Lonely Eighteen (2023) and Promise of Decades (2024). Tracy is presenting her latest film, Girlfriends, at NYAFF 2026.

Frankie Chung graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in screenwriting, and began his career in television, developing and producing a range of cultural and docudrama programs for RTHK. He moved into film production in 2019, making his debut as producer with Beyond the Dream, which received multiple nominations and awards at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards. He has worked across writing and producing, collaborating with veteran filmmaker Amos Why’s Everyphone Everywhere (NYAFF 2023), with whom he co-directed his directing debut The Dating Menu (2026), which he is presenting at NYAFF 2026 following its world premiere as a Gala Presentation at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Chung Ji-young has examined the social and political landscape of contemporary Korean history for four decades. White Badge (1992), his reckoning with Korea's part in the Vietnam War, won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He returned in the 2010s with a run of pointed social dramas, including the courtroom drama Unbowed (2011), the torture chamber account National Security (2012), and the finance expose Black Money (2019). He comes to NYAFF with My Name, part of the festival's program marking the Jeju April 3 uprising.

"Unoey" Prapamonton Eiamchan is a Thai actor and model known for her nuanced performances in independent films. She gained recognition for her role in the award-winning film Anatomy of Time (2021) and Nakorn-Sawan (2018). Eiamchan’s growing body of work highlights her versatility as an actress and her contributions to contemporary Thai cinema.

Ha Myung-mi wrote and directed Hallan (2025), a survival drama set during the Jeju April 3 uprising of 1948, when government forces killed tens of thousands of islanders in a suppression campaign that went unspoken for decades. Ha moved to Jeju in 2013 and attended the April 3 memorial every year; the film grew out of her conviction that grieving alone was not enough. Performed almost entirely in the Jeju dialect, with five regional reviewers checking every line, Hallan opened in Korea in November 2025 and has drawn sustained audience support, including relay screenings and a special screening at the National Assembly. It is her second feature, following the revenge thriller Her Hobby (2023), adapted from Seo Mi-ae's novel. She attends Hallan at NYAFF with star Kim Hyang-gi.

Novika Ishar, Partner and Chair of Entertainment Law at Romano Law, regularly advises filmmakers, production studios, and talent. She has worked as production counsel on films such as THE IRISHMAN and YELLOWJACKETS, podcast projects such as It’s Open with Ilana Glazer, and many others.

James Jirayu Tangsrisuk, born in 1993 in Phichit, Thailand, was discovered through social media and rose to national fame with his breakthrough role in the television series Khun Chai Puttipat (2013). He has since led some of Thai television's highest-rated dramas, including Padiwaradda, Krong Kam, and Matalada, and appeared in the features Timeline and Ayothaya Maha Laluay. Also an accomplished singer and one of Thailand's most sought-after brand ambassadors, he stars in the horror feature Tha Rae: The Exorcist.

Gianna Jun (Jun Ji-hyun) is one of Korea’s most acclaimed actresses, renowned for her exceptional career spanning film, television, and global brand partnerships. She rose to international prominence through the landmark romantic comedy My Sassy Girl (2001), one of the most influential Korean films of its generation. Since then, she has continued to demonstrate remarkable versatility through a wide range of acclaimed works, including The Thieves (2012), Assassination (2015), Kingdom: Ashin of the North (2021), My Love from the Star (2013–2014), The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016–2017), and Jirisan (2021). Throughout her career, Gianna has received numerous prestigious honors, including multiple Grand Prize (Daesang) awards, and has established herself as one of the leading figures of Korean entertainment both domestically and internationally. In 2026, she stars in Colony, directed by Yeon Sang-ho. Her continued influence across film, television, fashion, and culture has made her one of Korea’s most recognizable and respected artists.

Kim Hyang-gi, born in 2000, has been on Korean screens since early childhood, making her film debut in Heart Is… (2006). Thread of Lies (2014) won her Best New Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Her turn as Deok-choon, the youngest grim reaper in Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, made her the youngest Blue Dragon Best Supporting Actress winner. In Innocent Witness (2019), her performance as an autistic teenage witness brought a Baeksang Best Actress nomination and Best Actress from the Korean Association of Film Critics. She later appeared in Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022). In Hallan (2025), she plays Ah-jin, a mother trying to keep her daughter alive amid the Jeju April 3 massacre.

Director Kim Jin-yu is based in Gangwon Province, South Korea, where he serves as festival director of the Jeongdongjin Independent Film Festival. As a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), he directed the short film Do You Hear What I Hear? (2014). For his feature debut, Bori (2018) based on his own experiences, he received the Directors Guild of Korea Award at at the Busan International Film Festival. Journey There is his second feature film which he’ll present at NYAFF 2026 with actor Justin H. Min.

Kim Jong-kwan graduated from the Seoul Institute of Arts and has made acclaimed short films since 2000. His first two features, Lovers (2008) and Come Closer (2010), were thematically linked short film omnibuses; other features include Worst Woman (2016), The Table (2017), Persona (2019), Shades of the Heart (2020), and Josee (2020), starring Han Ji-min. He directed the Metamorphosis chapter of The Killers (NYAFF 2024). In addition to filmmaking, his creative work spans music videos, exhibitions, and publishing. His films often build from simple conversations between two people, treated as a framework for cinematic experimentation. He will present his latest film, Frosted Window.

Taichi is a visionary filmmaker born in Tokyo who moved to the UK alone at just 12 years old to pursue studies in filmmaking. His directorial journey began with the self-produced short film Lost Youth (2016), followed by his feature film debut Afterglows (2023) which earned him the Best Director Award at the Asia Film Festival Barcelona 2024. His reputation as an accomplished music video director spans continents, having collaborated with prominent artists like Chase & Status and Kano in the UK, as well as King Gnu, Namedaruma, and One OK Rock in Japan. In 2025, he achieved the distinction of being the only Japanese director selected among 150 filmmakers from 45 countries to contribute to Coldplay's groundbreaking omnibus music video project "We Play.". He is presenting his lastest feature, the NYAFF 2026 Uncaged Award-nominated Fujiko.

Kai Ko won Best New Performer at the Golden Horse Awards for You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011) and went on to roles in Tiny Times and Till We Meet Again (2021), which won him Best Actor at the Taipei Film Awards. He made his directing debut with Bad Education (2022). In I Blew Out the Candles Before Making a Wish he plays Hua, a down-on-his-luck debt collector in Macau's backstreets, a performance for which he reportedly gained ten kilograms and took a significant pay cut to support the first-time directors.

Takashi Koyama worked in commercial production, as an assistant director, and as an offline editor before going independent in 2015. His theatrical feature debut, colorless (2021), was selected for the Japanese Cinema Splash section of the Tokyo International Film Festival and nominated in competition at the Udine Far East Film Festival. His new film All Greens, led by Sara Minami, premiered at Busan in 2025 ahead of its Japanese theatrical release in January 2026.

Thavary Krouch serves as the Deputy Director of Film for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, where she supports both studio and independent productions filming across New York City. With over a decade of experience in film production and public service, she is dedicated to fostering a thriving, inclusive film industry. Before joining MOME, Thavary worked at the Chicago Film Office and built her foundation in independent filmmaking. As a writer and director, her work explores themes of family, identity, and resilience through both narrative and documentary storytelling.

Kuo Cheng-chui is a writer-director born in Taipei. He graduated from Provence University and divides his life between Taiwan and France. His short film Family Viewing (2008), which was nominated for best short film at France’s César Awards, starred Lu Yi-ching, who returned alongside Gwei Lun-mei in his first feature, Foret Debussy (2016), the opening film of the Kaohsiung Film Festival. His second feature, Clément, Alex et tous les autres (2019), was released on Prime Video in Europe. He comes to NYAFF with Last Night in Taipei.

Aurora Sun Labeija is the trailblazer of Thailand ballroom scene. He was the first one from Thailand ball scene to walk balls, snatch trophies, teach voguing and judge abroad. He started the Thai scene in 2018. Known as Aurora Labeija in the major ballroom scene, Aurora joined The Royal House of Labeija in 2022. From 2015 to 2022, he was a part of house of Amazon. Aurora started the first Thai Kiki House in 2018, the Kiki House of Sun. Today the Kiki House has members in Thailand, Vietnam, Germany, Singapore and Indonesia.

Lan Hongchun was born in Shantou, Guangdong Province. He graduated from South China Normal University, majoring in Chinese Language and Literature. He is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and editing supervisor.

In 2018, his self-written and self-directed warm comedy film Proud Of Me was released, which won the Best Narrative Feature Award at the Shenzhen Youth Image Festival.

In 2022, the family romance film Back To Love was released. It won the 12th Guangdong Provincial Spiritual Civilization Five-One Project Award.

In 2026, his drama film Dear You, with him as director, screenwriter and editing supervisor, was released. The film achieved an impressive 9.3 rating from 890,000 users on Douban, and its box office gross exceeded 1.9 billion RMB.

Andrew Lau Wai-keung came up the hard way. He talked his way into Shaw Brothers in 1981, hired as a production assistant before maneuvering into the camera unit, and apprenticed on set before emerging as a cinematographer by mid-decade. When he got there, he changed the look of Hong Kong cinema. He shot the nocturnal, handheld charge of Ringo Lam's City on Fire (1987) and Wong Kar-wai's debut As Tears Go By (1988), the latter earning him his first Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best Cinematography. He moved into directing with Against All (1990). In 1995 he co-founded BoB & Partners with Wong Jing and Manfred Wong; the next year Young and Dangerous became a phenomenon and launched a wave of comic-to-film adaptations. He pushed local spectacle into the digital era with The Storm Riders (1998), that year's highest-grossing Hong Kong film. Infernal Affairs (2002), co-directed with Alan Mak, won Best Director for Lau and Mak at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards; Martin Scorsese remade it as The Departed, winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. His latest feature, The Dumpling Queen (2025), led China's May Day box office for three straight weekends.

Leon Le came to filmmaking after a long career as a professional dancer. His short films Dawn (2012) and Talking to My Mother (2015), which explore race and sexual orientation through distinctly Asian perspectives, screened at over one hundred festivals worldwide. His feature debut Song Lang (2018) won more than fifty awards including NYAFF 2019’s Audience Award, and established him as a filmmaker to watch. His new feature, Ky Nam Inn, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, praised for its restrained storytelling and emotionally precise portrait of post-war reconciliation. Le divides his time between New York City and Saigon.

Lee Yi-shan is an independent filmmaker from Taiwan. She won Best Live Action Short Film at the 2017 Golden Horse Awards for Babes' Not Alone and was nominated in the same category for Sisters' Busy Hands in 2020; she has also won Best Editing at the Golden Bell Awards. Her work centers on female awareness under patriarchy, building characters with strong personalities and an empathetic core. She is presenting her debut feature, the NYAFF 2026 Uncaged Award-nominated A Dance With Rainbows.

Annabelle Li is a Hong Kong-based writer, actress, LGBTQ+ community organizer, and counsellor-in-training. She works at the intersection of gender, mental health, and community through advocacy, education, research, and peer support. As the scriptwriter, character consultant, intimacy coordinator, and actress for Cyclone, she draws on lived experience and years of community work to bring authenticity and emotional nuance to the film. Annabelle frequently lectures on gender, sexuality, and LGBTQ+ mental health, and is currently completing a Master's degree in Counselling at The University of Hong Kong, where her research focuses on transgender mental health and help-seeking in East Asian contexts.

Jun Li studied journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and then took a master’s degree in gender studies at the University of Cambridge. His directorial feature debut, Tracey (2018), premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival while his second feature, Drifting (2021), premiered at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. His third feature, Queerpanorama, premiered at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. He is also a producer, and was at NYAFF 2024 with Fly Me to the Moon (2023), which he produced with director Sasha Chuk. His films focus on the reality of sexual minorities and people suffering from substance abuse.

Li Sitong is a Chinese actress who stars as Xie Nanzhi in the feature film Dear You. With a restrained yet richly layered performance, she captures the quiet strength beneath her character’s gentle exterior. Her understated and resolute portrayal brings depth, warmth, and emotional vitality to the film.

For her performance, Li was named Most Promising New Actress at the 23rd China Movie Channel Media Focus Unit. The film also received the Special Honor of the Organizing Committee at the 23rd China Movie Channel Media Focus Unit and the Golden Petrel Award for Best Asian Art Film of the Year at the 2026 Asian Art Film Festival in Macao, China.

It was while majoring in sociology and film studies at UC Berkeley that director Eric Lin decided to dive into the world of filmmaking. Now, he is best known for his cinematography work on the critically acclaimed feature films such as THE EXPLODING GIRL, THE SOUND OF SILENCE, HOUSE OF SPOILS, I SMILE BACK, and HEARTS BEAT LOUD, which have all premiered at prestigious film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto. Early in his filmmaking days, Lin’s own New York University MFA short documentary, MUSIC PALACE, gained notice and played at influential festivals such as Telluride and New Directors/New Films.

His feature directorial debut, ROSEMEAD, stars Lucy Liu in a performance that Variety called “a revelatory turn” and “career re-defining.” ROSEMEAD premiered to critical acclaim at Tribeca and went on to screen at festivals such as Locarno (winning the Audience Award, the Prix du Public), Bentonville (winning the Best Narrative Feature award), Hawaii, SCAD Savannah, Morelia, Sao Paolo, Golden Horse Film Awards, as well as MoMA’s The Contender series. It is distributed by Vertical Entertainment.

Eva Lipman is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who grew up in New York City. Character driven stories with lasting impact connect her body of work across documentaries, episodic and short-form films, installations and live events. She produced HBO's JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, Academy Award nominee and winner of the 2016 Sundance Audience Award and 2016 Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Other recent credits include 2023 Sundance Film Festival Premiere ABC News/Hulu's PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS, 2020 Emmy nominee Netflix's DEVIL AT THE CROSSROADS and Netflix's WHO KILLED JAM MASTER JAY. Eva began her career in the Performing Arts and trained professionally at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center. She was awarded an artist fellowship from the Wurlitzer Foundation and is a graduate of McGill University.

Based in between Amsterdam, London, and Manila, Rafael Manuel’s short films have won a Silver Bear at the Berlinale, have screened at Locarno, IFFR, and FIDMarseiiles, and are exhibited by ARTE and the Criterion Collection. He is the last film protege at the Rolex Arts Initiative where he was mentored by Jia Zhangke. Filipiñana is his debut feature-length film.

Mario Maurer broke through at nineteen in The Love of Siam (2007), Chookiat Sakveerakul's coming-of-age drama, and became a regional star three years later with the romantic comedy A Crazy Little Thing Called Love (2010). In 2013 he led Pee Mak, Banjong Pisanthanakun's horror-comedy, which broke Thailand's all-time box-office record on release. His range runs from the erotic period drama of the Jan Dara films to a Rashomon-inspired monk in The Outrage (2011) to the outlaw folklore of director Kongkiat Komesiri's Khun Pan cycle. Across nearly two decades he has stayed one of Thai cinema's most recognizable faces, on the big screen and on television. He joins NYAFF 2026 in support of 4 Tigers, Komesiri's spaghetti-Western spin-off, in which he plays one of the four title bandits, and not the least of them.

Justin H. Min is an American actor best known for his role as Ben Hargreeves in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy. Born on March 20, 1990, in California, he is a second-generation Korean American. He attended Cornell University, where he earned degrees in Government and English. Before becoming an actor, Min worked as a journalist and photographer. He began his acting career with small television and web-based roles before achieving international recognition through The Umbrella Academy in 2019. His portrayal of Ben, a humorous yet emotional character, made him a fan favorite and helped establish his reputation in the entertainment industry. Min has also starred in critically acclaimed projects such as After Yang and Shortcomings, demonstrating his versatility as an actor. In 2023, he appeared in the Netflix comedy-drama series Beef, playing Edwin, a supporting character who contributed to the show’s compelling story. Beef received widespread praise from critics and audiences. Known for his dedication, talent, and advocacy for Asian American representation, Justin H. Min has become one of the most promising actors of his generation. His growing success continues to inspire aspiring performers and promote diversity in Hollywood.

Sara Minami swept the Japanese newcomer awards at nineteen and has spent the years since refusing to repeat herself. Scouted as a teen model for nicola, she made her feature debut in Yukiko Mishima's Dear Etranger (2017), then broke through in Hiroaki Yuasa's Shino Can't Say Her Own Name (2018), winning Best New Artist at the Hochi Film Awards (shared with co-lead Aju Makita), the Blue Ribbon Award, and the Japanese Movie Critics Award. She moves easily between registers: the TBS hit series Dragon Zakura 2 (2021), the NHK taiga dramas The 13 Lords of the Shogun (2022) and Dear Radiance (2024), the Netflix series From Me to You (2023), and now two roles that push further out. She leads Takashi Koyama's All Greens as Boku Hidemi, an aspiring rapper with no place at school or home, which premiered at Busan in 2025, and she trades the assassin's trade with Jeffrey Ngai in NJO Kui Ying's Hong Kong-Japan thriller Road to Vendetta (2025). NYAFF presents Minami with the Screen International Rising Star Award on July 11, and screens Magical Secret Tour and All Greens with the actress in attendance.

Xyza Ragunjan also known as Mother Xyza Mizrahi is the Trailblazer of the Philippine Ballroom Scene and the International Mother of the Iconic House of Mizrahi. She is also a member of The Iconic Kiki House of Pinklady. She is a movement artist, choreographer and creative director. She started her career as a professional street dance artist for around 15 years. She was a member of The Philippine Allstars where she competed internationally and performed with several local and international artists. She also has several Music Videos and commercials in the Philippines. Her vast experience both in the underground dance community and the industry is her instrument in becoming a nurturing community leader advocating and highlighting both women and queer expressions through podcasts, and other projects as well.

Na Hong-jin has directed four features in eighteen years, and every one of them has gone to Cannes. The Chaser (2008) rewired the serial-killer thriller around a pimp hunting the murderer of his missing women, and its remake rights sold to Hollywood before most of the cinephile world had seen it. The Yellow Sea (2010) sent a desperate ethnic Korean cab driver from China across the strait with a knife and a debt. The Wailing (2016) began as a rural police procedural and ended somewhere much darker, becoming an international hit and a modern horror landmark. HOPE (2026), his first feature in a decade, premiered In Competition at Cannes this May, the first Korean film in the running for the Palme d'Or since 2022, and drew a minutes-long standing ovation reported as the loudest of the festival. The epic, set in a coastal village near the DMZ, reunites him with The Wailing's Hwang Jung-min alongside Zo In-sung and Hoyeon, and is reported to carry the largest production budget in Korean film history; NEON releases it in North America this fall. NYAFF presents Na with the Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema and a full retrospective of his career with screenings of The Chaser (on 35mm), The Yellow Sea, and The Wailing.

Ng Wing Sze is a talented actress of Hong Kong's new generation, who first garnered attention in 2015 with her performance in the Fresh Wave short film Conditioned. Since committing full-time to her acting career, she has built a solid portfolio of over 30 film and television productions, earning steady recognition within the industry. Known for her grounded performances, she has earned opportunities to work with master filmmakers, including Johnnie To, while actively collaborating with rising directors. Her promising path was further recognized in 2025, when she was honored with the Shining Film Newcomer Award at the ACE FACE of Hong Kong Star Awards in South Korea.

Bao Nguyen is an award-winning Vietnamese American filmmaker whose work has premiered at Sundance, Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto, and Tribeca. He directed the acclaimed documentaries The Greatest Night in Pop, BTS: The Return, The Stringer, and Be Water. As a producer, his credits include The Dream Is a Snail, the first Vietnamese film selected to compete for the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes, and Ròm, winner of the New Currents Award at the Busan International Film Festival. Nguyen is a PGA Award winner, BAFTA US Breakthrough recipient, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Pang Ho-cheung debuted with You Shoot, I Shoot (2001), a hitman comedy that announced one of Hong Kong cinema's most distinctive voices. Isabella (2006) premiered in competition at the Berlinale, and he spent the following decade alternating romantic comedy and provocation: Exodus (2007), Love in a Puff (2010) and Love in the Buff (2012), and the film industry farce Vulgaria (2012). He returns to NYAFF for the 25th anniversary screening of You Shoot, I Shoot at Anthology Film Archives, twenty-five years after the film and the festival arrived together.

Diane Paragas is an award-winning writer/director and producer of narrative features, documentaries and commercials. In 2012, she co-directed Brooklyn Boheme, a feature length documentary about an African American arts movement that she co-directed with Nelson George. In 2019, Paragas completed her debut narrative feature, Yellow Rose, about an undocumented Filipino-American teen pursuing a dream to become a country music singer. Diane recently directed an episode of the 2nd Season of BAFTA nominated Little America for Apple Plus. Ms Paragas was awarded a 2022 United States Artist Fellowship and has received fellowships and support from the The Sundance Institute, Geena Davis Institute, CAAM, The Bertha Foundation and Creative Capital. She was also selected for Goldhouse’s A100 list of Most Impactful Asians of 2020.

Piolo Pascual is a Filipino actor, singer, and producer the local long known ago crowned the Philippines’ “Ultimate Heartthrob.” He started in the 1990s and has barely come up for air since, which is how a heartthrob turns into a pop culture household name and stays one. He came up opposite Judy Ann Santos and has spent the years since refusing to pick a lane: mainstream blockbusters one year, hard auteur cinema the next. His filmography runs from Erik Matti’s neo-noir On the Job, which played Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, to Lav Diaz’s eight-hour Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis. 2025 alone gave us The Ride, Meet, Greet & Bye, and Raymond Red’s Manila’s Finest, which walked off with eight awards at the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival, more than any other entry in that edition. He is also a multi-awarded television lead and a multi-platinum recording artist. Behind the camera, Pascual co-founded Spring Films and, as producer or Spring Films principal, helped bring to the screen titles including Kimmy Dora, Kita Kita, Hayop Ka! and Manila’s Finest. Few Filipino stars have moved so easily between mass appeal, festival cinema, music, television, and production.

Baz Poonpiriya is a Thai director, producer, and screenwriter known for acclaimed films including Countdown, Bad Genius, and One for the Road. He is the founder of Houseton and made his producing debut with Not Friends (2023), a coming-of-age drama that screened at major international festivals, including NYAFF 2024 and was selected as Thailand’s submission for the Academy Awards. In 2024, he co-founded BASK with producer Vanridee Pongsittisak to develop globally resonant stories rooted in Thai and Asian culture. Gohan, BASK’s first feature, reflects Baz’s lifelong passion for dogs and animal rescue.

Raymond Red is one of the founding figures of modern Philippine independent and alternative cinema. Emerging in the 1980s with groundbreaking Super 8 and 16mm shorts, he helped open a path for Filipino filmmaking outside the commercial studio system before moving into features including the historical works Bayani and Sakay and, later, Manila Skies. In 2000, he became the first Filipino filmmaker to win the Cannes Short Film Palme d’Or, for Anino. Red is also widely recognized as a mentor to generations of Filipino independent filmmakers. His latest work, the period crime thriller Manila’s Finest (2025), set in 1969 Manila on the eve of martial law, screens at NYAFF with Red and star Piolo Pascual appearing in person.

Petong Sakulchai is a Thailand-based filmmaker. He attended the New York Film Academy, where he earned a Master's degree in Filmmaking. As a screenwriter and director, he has received multiple awards for his short films and screenplays. Upon returning to Thailand, he joined TV Pool Group, where he currently serves as Head of Production. He wrote and co-directed Someone Special with Ariel Feng, a genre-bending thriller that blends romance, dark humour, and psychological suspense. The film will have its World Premiere NYAFF where he will be present in person.

Shen Ko-shang has directed feature films, documentaries, experimental films, and commercials. His documentaries include A Rolling Stone (2012) and Ways into Love (2015), and his short films Layover (1999), Two Juliets (2010), and End of a Century: Mia's Story (2015) received nominations at Cannes and Visions du Reel. Shen has also won the Grand Prize at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival and the Taipei Film Festival, as well as Best Documentary at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. His first narrative feature Deep Quiet Room is selected at NYAFF 2026's Uncaged Competition section, which he is presenting with actor Joseph Chang.

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Koji Shiraishi made his commercial film debut with Honto ni Atta! Noroi no Video: The Movie (2003) and garnered significant attention for his mockumentary-style films such as Noroi: The Curse (2005) and Occult (2008). The direct- to-video series Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi!, which he launched in 2012, achieved instant cult popularity. Known for his sharp-witted mash-ups of dark satire and jumpscare Horror with films such as Sadako vs Kayako, and House Of Sayuri, Shiraishi’s latest film Kinki, screens as part of NYAFF’s Horroscope program.

Thiti Srinuan is a Thai filmmaker whose work centers on supernatural horror rooted in family and cultural narratives, drawing from Thai beliefs and traditions to explore grief, memory, and the unseen. With experience in short films, he combines atmospheric visuals with intimate storytelling to create haunting yet human stories that resonate beyond genre. His Isan-language breakout The Undertaker (2023) became the highest-grossing Thai film in nine years, taking over 729 million baht nationwide, and won seven Suphannahong National Film Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. He returns to its world with The Undertaker 2, the highest-grossing Thai release of 2026 to date.

Yukki Tai is a Hong Kong actor and a 2019 graduate of the Acting Programme at the School of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. He gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of Lai Chi-yung in the hit ViuTV drama Left on Read (2023) and has appeared in several notable films, including Time Still Turns the Pages (2023) and The Lyricist Wannabe, which was showcased at the NYAFF in 2024. He stars in acclaimed screenwriter Mak Tin-shu’s feature directorial debut, Dog Day Evening, a dark comedy that premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, where his compelling screen presence and emotional depth further establish him as a rising talent in Asian cinema.

David Tang Tsai Yang is one of Taiwan’s most seasoned executive producers, with a career spanning journalism, talent representation, and film and television production. A former film reporter for Taiwan’s United Evening News, he entered production in 2006 after more than twenty years covering Chinese-language cinema and building close industry ties across Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Macau. His credits range from major commercial productions including John Woo’s Red Cliff and Su Chao-pin’s Reign of Assassins to award-recognized Taiwanese titles such as Who Killed Cock Robin, Dad’s Suit, The Soul, The Abandoned, My Heavenly City, and A Boy and A Girl. His work has earned nominations and prizes from the Golden Horse Awards, Golden Bell Awards, Taipei Film Awards, and Busan International Film Festival.

Dan Truong is Head of Content Affairs at Cinereach and a film strategist with over 20 years of experience in acquisitions, finance, and distribution. As former Head of U.S. Film Acquisitions at Amazon Prime Video, he oversaw major studio output deals and led independent acquisitions with the Film Festival Stars program. At The Orchard, he acquired Oscar nominated Cartel Land and Life, Animated. He began his career at Focus Features. Dan holds a BS and MBA from NYU Stern.

Wang Yantong is a highly regarded new-generation Chinese actor, and his first big-screen work, Dear You (2026), received widespread acclaim. This non-professionally trained young man from Swatow won two honors for his straightforward portrayal of Zheng Musheng in the film, winning Most Media-Noticed New Actor in the Media Attention section of the 23rd Movie Channel and Breakthrough Actor of the Year at the Weibo Movie Night.

Keane T. K. Wong graduated from the Film Program at the Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University, and built his craft in production and post-production, working on I Am Somebody (2015), Sword Master (2016), and In Search of Lost Time (2022). He arrives at NYAFF with Afterpiece, starring Screen International Rising Star honoree Angela Yuen, one of two films at this year's festival led by the Hong Kong actress. He attends the screening in person, joining the festival's Hong Kong contingent for the 25th edition

Daniel Wu is a Chinese American actor, producer, and director whose career spans prestige television, major studio films, and international box office success. He is best known in the United States as the creator, star, and executive producer of AMC’s Into the Badlands, the acclaimed action series that ran for three seasons and has since found renewed audiences on Netflix. Variety praised the show as “a bold reinvention of television action,” highlighting Wu’s commanding screen presence. Wu’s television credits also include HBO’s Westworld, and Disney+’s American Born Chinese, in which he portrayed the Monkey King opposite Michelle Yeoh. His feature film work includes Tomb Raider, Geostorm, Reminiscence, and Warcraft, which grossed more than $439 million worldwide. An award-winning filmmaker, Wu received Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards for The Heavenly Kings. His work reflects a rare ability to move seamlessly between Eastern and Western storytelling while maintaining authenticity and emotional depth. Known for combining physicality, intelligence, and restraint, Wu has evolved into one of the industry’s most versatile leading men. Whether in action, crime, or character-driven drama, he brings both star power and a filmmaker’s perspective to every role, making him a distinctive presence on screens across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Joey Wu is a Hong Kong director and screenwriter who graduated from the School of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her debut feature, Bird of Paradise, was selected as the winning project in the Higher Education Institution Group of the First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI), a program supported by the Hong Kong Film Development Council and funded by the Film Development Fund. As an emerging filmmaker, Wu brings a fresh voice to Hong Kong cinema through her work as both writer and director.

Yan Kunao is a Chinese screenwriter, director, and producer. He graduated from the Communication University of China and earned an MFA in Directing from Columbia University. His debut short film, Summer Swing, premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival and was shortlisted for La Semaine de la Critique at Cannes. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Columbia University’s Department of Film. His co-produced feature Jing Guo was selected for the 74th Berlinale, while Jet Lag in Summer, his first feature film, premiered at the Pingyao International Film Festival in 2025.

Yeon Sang-ho emerged from independent animation with The King of Pigs (2011), an unflinching portrait of school violence, class cruelty, and the wounds Korean society teaches its children to carry. He crossed into live action with Train to Busan (2016), the Cannes Midnight Screenings sensation that helped turn the Korean zombie film into a global phenomenon. Since then, he has moved restlessly across scale and format, from the animated Seoul Station to Peninsula, Jung_E, Revelations, The Ugly, and now Colony. Arriving at NYAFF as a North American premiere after its Cannes Midnight Screenings world premiere, Colony returns Yeon to the same Cannes section that launched Train to Busan ten years earlier. Yeon opens NYAFF’s 25th edition in person on July 10 and appears through opening weekend, which also features the 10th-anniversary 4K restoration of Train to Busan.

Adilkhan Yerzhanov, film director and scriptwriter, is a graduate of the Kazakh National Academy of Arts with a degree in Film Directing. He is a two-time participant of the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Programme with both The Owners (2014) and The Gentle Indifference of the World (2018) selected at Un Certain Regard, and of the Venice International Film Festival, with Yellow Cat (Orizzonti, 2020) and Goliath (Orizzonti Extra, 2022). A Dark, Dark Man earned him the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing in 2019. Turgaud is his latest neo-western which he will present at NYAFF 2026, in competition for for Uncaged Award.

Angela Yuen built a breakout out of a single pandemic year. She modeled while studying accounting at Hong Kong Baptist University, became widely known through a 2015 Maxim's commercial, and turned to acting soon after. Christopher Doyle cast her in The White Girl (2017), the fishing-village fable he co-directed, opposite Joe Odagiri, and she drew wider notice in Little Q (2019). Then 2022 brought three releases at once: the comedy Chilli Laugh Story, the family drama Hong Kong Family, and Lam Sum's The Narrow Road, in which she plays Candy, a free-spirited single mother taking cleaning work through locked-down Hong Kong opposite Louis Cheung. That performance earned her Best Leading Actress nominations at the 59th Golden Horse Awards and the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards. She has scarcely left the screen since, with leads across film and series in Hong Kong and Taiwan. NYAFF presents Yuen with the Screen International Rising Star Award and screens two of her new films, Afterpiece and Gamer Girls, with the actress in attendance.

Philip Yung is a Hong Kong director, screenwriter, and producer best known for Port of Call (NYAFF 2015), Hong Kong’s entry for the 89th Academy Awards, and Where the Wind Blows (2023). His feature film Papa (2024; NYAFF 2025) earned three awards at the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best New Performer. In addition to directing, Yung has worked extensively as a producer and screenwriter on acclaimed films such as Rigor Mortis (2013) and The Sparring Partner (2022). He returns to NYAFF with his latest feature, Cyclone following its World Premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and its Closing Film screening at the Hong Kong International FF.

Zheng Xuanxuan is a screenwriter and producer from the Screenwriting Department at the Beijing Film Academy. She served as producer for the 2026 feature film Dear You, which grossed over USD 281 million worldwide. The film has received two major honors: the Special Honor of the Organizing Committee at the 23rd China Movie Channel Media Focus Unit, and the Golden Petrel Award for Best Asian Art Film of the Year at the 2026 Asian Art Film Festival in Macao, China.