Draft:Nash Ang
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Nash Ang (also credited as 안내쉬) is a Filipino filmmaker, actor, and social entrepreneur. He is known for directing Seoul Mates (2014), described by The Korea Times as "the first Korea-Philippines co-produced feature film made by staff and actors from both countries,"[1] and the direct cinema documentary Paraiso (2015), which won the Grand Prix at the CineEco International Environmental Film Festival in Portugal.[2]
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Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Subtleazn (talk) 21:31, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
In 2012, The Korea Herald profiled Ang as a Filipino exchange student at the Korea National University of Arts who was taking his documentary on poverty to the Pyongyang International Film Festival.[3] He is a two-time recipient of the Ani ng Dangal award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) under the Cinema category, in 2011 and 2016.[4] In 2021, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) recognized him with the Media Advocate Award at its Migration Advocacy and Media Awards.[4]
Early life and education
Ang studied broadcasting at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila.[1] While in the Philippines, he began making films focused on documentaries. The Korea Herald described his early work as having "a cinematic eye for presenting heart-wrenching poverty with disarming frankness."[3]
In 2010, Ang won the grand prix at the ASEAN-Korea Multimedia Competition, an annual contest organized by the ASEAN–Korea Centre to promote cultural exchange between ASEAN and Korean youth. His entry, Water, depicted the pollution of the Pasig River, and was selected from more than 600 entries from across ASEAN member states. The award ceremony was held at Gallery Jinsun in Jongno-gu, Seoul.[5]
In 2012, Ang moved to Seoul after being accepted as a scholarship recipient of the Art Major Asian (AMA) program at the Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts), where he pursued a Master of Fine Arts in filmmaking and directing.[1][6] The Korea Herald noted that Ang's earlier documentary Water Ghetto, about Muslim settlers living in an informal community on a canal behind Malacañang Palace, had screened at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in 2011, which helped him secure the K-Arts scholarship.[3]
After nearly a decade in South Korea, Ang moved to San Francisco, California, where he enrolled at City College of San Francisco to study in the Computer Networking and Information Technology Department.[7]
Career
Filmmaking
Ang's early documentary work centered on social issues in the Philippines, particularly urban poverty and environmental degradation. His short documentary isKWATER (2010), about Filipinos who migrated to Manila, and Water (2010), about the polluted Pasig River, earned him the Ani ng Dangal award from the NCCA in 2011 under the Cinema category.[4][5]
In September 2012, shortly after arriving at K-Arts, Ang traveled to North Korea to attend the 13th Pyongyang International Film Festival, where his hour-long documentary Live to Dive (Lusong), about child scavengers diving for garbage in polluted waters near the Manila settlement of Puting Bato, was entered in the official selection. The Korea Herald reported on his unusual position as a Filipino student living in South Korea while taking a film to North Korea.[3] The CFO later noted that Ang received the Best Director award at the 13th Pyongyang International Film Festival.[4]
In 2013, while at K-Arts, Ang wrote and directed Seoul Mates as a school project. The film, a romantic comedy about the relationship between a Korean musician and a Filipino transgender woman, was expanded into a feature-length production through a two-month shoot in 2014.[1] Seoul Mates was produced jointly by OBRA Multimedia and Samsong Entertainment Media Holdings, and featured Korean actor Ji Soo in his first leading role in a feature film.[6] The film screened at the Cinema One Originals Film Festival in November 2014.[8]
In January 2015, Ang's short film Reason for Existence, about a young teacher and his students in a dump site, won the top prize at the inaugural Mirvac WA Short Film Festival in Western Australia, with a cash prize of AU$1,000.[9]
His documentary Paraiso (2015), a direct cinema film following child survivors of Typhoon Haiyan one month after the disaster, premiered at the Singkuwento International Film Festival in Manila in February 2015. The film won the Grand Prix at the 21st CineEco: International Festival of Environmental Cinema in Serra da Estrela, Portugal, with a cash prize of 2,000 euros. Festival organizers described the documentary as a form of "direct cinema."[2] In 2016, Paraiso won the Special Festival Prize at the 15th Pyongyang International Film Festival, where Ang personally received the award at the Taedongmun Theater in Pyongyang,[10] and the Mass Media Jury Award at the 15th Baikal International Festival of Documentary and Popular-Science Films in Irkutsk, Russia.[10] Ang received his second Ani ng Dangal award in 2016.[4]
In 2018, Ang's short film No Man Is an Island, a 35-minute mockumentary about a terrorist group and two Korean hostages filmed entirely on a smartphone, won the Special Jury Award at the Ulsan New Media Film Festival in South Korea.[11]
Acting
In addition to filmmaking, Ang works as an actor in South Korean television and theater. He is a member of Salad, a multicultural theater company in South Korea that features performers from different cultural backgrounds.[1]
His most prominent television role was in the tvN historical drama Arthdal Chronicles (2019), in which he appeared in Episode 9 as a member of the Wabi Tribe alongside Song Joong-ki.[6][12] In addition to acting, Ang served as a language consultant for the production, translating dialogue into Tausug and Yakan, two indigenous languages from the Sulu Archipelago and Basilan in the southern Philippines. These languages were used as the fictional tribal languages spoken by two groups in the drama.[12][13]
In an email interview with Coconuts Manila, Ang said he had his mother and relatives translate the lines "because the conversations were so deep," adding that "the Korean actors really memorized them."[12] Inquirer Lifestyle reported that after filming a scene in sub-zero temperatures on a mountaintop, Song Joong-ki told Ang, "You did a great job."[13]
His other television credits include the OCN drama The Running Mates: Human Rights (2019) and the tvN dramas Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter (2018) and The Undateables (2018).[6]
Social entrepreneurship
Ang founded OBRA Incorporated, a non-profit cultural organization for Filipino artists, in 2007.[1] In 2017, he launched Pinoy Seoul, an online media portal for Filipinos in South Korea, while working as an International Correspondent of the Seoul City Government through the Seoul Global Center.[14]
In May 2019, the team behind Pinoy Seoul launched Pinoy Store, an e-commerce platform selling Filipino products to migrant workers in South Korea, functioning as an online sari-sari store.[15]
In September 2019, Ang organized the inaugural Korea Pinoy International Film Festival (KPIFF), a three-day event at the Arirang Cinema Center in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, focusing on the theme of migration. The festival screened 28 short and feature films and was held in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Korea and the Seongbuk-gu Government. It celebrated the centennial of Philippine cinema and the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and South Korea. The Korea JoongAng Daily described it as "the first Filipino international film festival to be hosted in Korea."[16][17]
In April 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in California, OBRA Incorporated launched the Pinoy California mobile application, a community platform for Filipino Americans in California designed to support Asian-American small business owners during the statewide lockdown.[18] On Labor Day 2020, the organization launched the "Work at Home" platform, a talent marketplace to help Filipino artists find remote freelance work during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.[19]
In 2021, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) recognized Ang with the Media Advocate Award at its Migration Advocacy and Media (MAM) Awards. The CFO citation noted his work in integrating Filipino languages into Korean drama scripts through Arthdal Chronicles and described him as "the director of the first-ever Filipino-Korean Feature Film 'Seoul Mates'."[4]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | isKWATER | Director | Documentary short; Ani ng Dangal 2011[4] |
| 2010 | Water | Director | ASEAN-Korea Multimedia Competition grand prix[5] |
| 2011 | Water Ghetto | Director | Screened at DMZ Docs[3] |
| 2012 | Live to Dive (Lusong) | Director | Official selection, 13th Pyongyang International Film Festival[3] |
| 2014 | Seoul Mates | Director, Writer, Actor | Cinema One Originals 2014[8] |
| 2015 | Reason for Existence | Director | Short film; top prize, Mirvac WA Short Film Festival, Australia[9] |
| 2015 | Paraiso | Director | Documentary; Grand Prix, CineEco 2015[2]; Special Festival Prize, PIFF 2016[10] |
| 2016 | No Man Is an Island | Director | Short film; Special Jury Award, Ulsan New Media Film Festival[11] |
| 2016 | The Bacchus Lady | Actor | Korean film[6] |
| 2018 | Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter | Actor | tvN drama[6] |
| 2018 | The Undateables | Actor | SBS drama[6] |
| 2019 | Arthdal Chronicles | Actor, Language consultant | tvN drama; translated dialogue into Tausug and Yakan[12][13] |
| 2019 | The Running Mates: Human Rights | Actor | OCN drama[6] |
Awards and recognition
| Year | Award | Work | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Grand Prix, ASEAN-Korea Multimedia Competition | Water | Philippine Star[5] |
| 2011 | Ani ng Dangal (3rd), Cinema | isKWATER, Water | CFO[4] |
| 2012 | Best Director, 13th Pyongyang International Film Festival | Live to Dive | CFO[4] |
| 2015 | Top Prize, Mirvac WA Short Film Festival, Australia | Reason for Existence | Inquirer[9] |
| 2015 | Grand Prix, 21st CineEco International Festival, Portugal | Paraiso | Inquirer[2] |
| 2016 | Special Festival Prize, 15th Pyongyang International Film Festival | Paraiso | Inquirer[10] |
| 2016 | Mass Media Jury Award, 15th Baikal International Festival, Russia | Paraiso | Inquirer[10] |
| 2016 | Ani ng Dangal (8th), Cinema | CFO[4] | |
| 2018 | Special Jury Award, Ulsan New Media Film Festival, South Korea | No Man Is an Island | Inquirer[11] |
| 2019 | Interactive Media Award – Best Website on Migration, CFO | Pinoy Seoul | Cosmopolitan[6] |
| 2021 | Media Advocate Award, Migration Advocacy and Media Awards, CFO | CFO[4] |