25th New York Asian Film Festival

Uncaged award

Jury for Uncaged award is composed of:

• Cindy Cheung: Chinese American actress
• Bao Nguyen: American film director, cinematographer and producer
• Diane Paragas: Filipino-American documentary and narrative film and commercial director
• Dan Truong: Cinereach executive

Shorts jury

• Johnson Cheng: Chinese American writer and director
• Ida Del Mundo: filmmaker, writer, teacher, and musician
• Jun Li: Hong Kong filmmaker and critic

Southeast Asian Frontiers

Shorts Program 1: Spirited Away

• Fruit (Buah) | dir. Jen Nee Lim | Singapore, Malaysia, 2025 | New York Premiere
• Still Water (Si Shui) | dir. Yijian Shan | China, Japan, United States, 2025 | U.S. Premiere
• Flamingo in the Garden | dir. Xinhui Ma | United States, 2025 | New York Premiere
• Agapito | dir. Arvin Belarmino, Kyla Romero | Philippines, 2025 | New York Premiere
• A Dream Like a Dream | dir. Linjie Sheng | China, 2026, China | North American Premiere
• Cookie, Love | dir. Sari Arambulo | United States, France, 2025
• Cecilia Is Only Eight Years Old | dir. Soojeong Son | United States, 2026 | World Premiere

Shorts Program 2: Lost & Found

• Apes | dir. Benny Wang | China, 2026 | North American Premiere
• Paper Daughter | dir. Cami Kwan | United States, 2025 | New York Premiere
• Girl Talk | dir. Yating Hsu | Taiwan, 2026 | World Premiere
• Buddha the Betrayer | dir. Ning Qian | China, Taiwan, 2025 | International Premiere
• Where Belly Goes | dir. Daphne Zelle | United States, 2025 | World Premiere
• One Last Walk | dir. Diana Bang, Andrea Bang | Canada, 2025 | International Premiere
• Autosave | dir. Imanuel Bolaman | Indonesia, 2025 | World Premiere

Shorts Program 3: Pressure Points

• Hyena | dir. Altay Ulan Yang | China, United States, 2025 | New York Premiere
• Our Child | dir. Anatole Sloan | Hong Kong, United Kingdom, 2026 | World Premiere
• No Place Like Home | dir. Shen Chieh Tsang | Taiwan, 2025 | North American Premiere
• Correct Me If I’m Wrong | dir. Hao Zhou | Germany, United States, 2025 | New York Premiere
• Coffin Therapy | dir. Zéré Turlykhanova | Kazakhstan, 2025 | New York Premiere
• The Housekeeper | dir. Surya Balakrishnan | India, 2025 | New York Premiere

Shorts Program 4: Korean Shorts

• Let The Neon Lights Dance | dir. Suzanne Soo Hyun Kim | Australia, South Korea, 2024 | World Premiere
• Undercurrent | dir. Ru-ri Lee | South Korea, 2025 | North American Premiere
• The Newcomer | dir. Annette Cho | United States, 2025
• SPEEDY! | dir. Jiin Oh | United States, 2025 | New York Premiere
• Devils in the Bush| dir. Juliet Belisario | Canada, 2025 | U.S. Premiere
• Broken Dawn | dir. Hao-Oh Park | South Korea, 2025 | New York Premiere

Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film

• Fujiko by Kimura Taichi, Japan
• Special Jury Mention:
  • Turgaud by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Kazakhstan

Audience Award

• My Name by Adam Wong, South Korea

Shorts Program Awards

This year’s Shorts Program jury awarded Best Short Film and 2 Special Jury Mentions:^[10]

• Best Short Film
  • Correct Me If I’m Wrong by Hao Zhou, Germany, United States

• Special Jury Mention:
  • Paper Daughter by Cami Kwan, United States
  • Still Water by Yijian Shan, China, Japan, United States

Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award

• Joan Chen, Chinese-born American actress and film director^[5]

Star Asia Awards

• Extraordinary Star Asia Award:
  • Jun Ji-hyun, South Korean actress and model

• Star Asia Award:
  • Joseph Chang, Taiwanese actor

• Best from the East Award:
  • Daniel Wu, Hong Kong actor, director, and producer

• Rising Star Asia Award:

Two of Asian cinema’s "fastest-rising actors", Hong Kong’s Angela Yuen and Japanese actress Sara Minami were the recipient of the awards.^[11]

• • Angela Yuen, Hong Kong fashion model and actress

• • Sara Minami, Japanese actress and model

Daniel Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema

• Yeon Sang-ho, South Korean film director and screenwriter