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Focus Asia Awards Go to First-Time Directors
Originally published May 1, 2026
By Naman Ramachandran · Variety
AI-generated summary based on Variety · Aggregated by Filmarian · Human-reviewed and approved on Jun 1, 2026
Key points
- Haohao Yan's 'Naked in Glendale' won the White Light/Focus Asia Award, valued at $20,000 in post-production services.
- Ce Ding Tan's 'Somewhere in the South' received the TAICCA Award from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency.
- Both winning films are first-time director projects and part of the Focus Asia Project Market.
- This is the first time Focus Asia's top awards have gone exclusively to debut directors.
At the 2026 Focus Asia event, two first-time directors won top prizes. Haohao Yan's 'Naked in Glendale' received the White Light/Focus Asia Award, while Ce Ding Tan's 'Somewhere in the South' won the TAICCA Award. Both films are part of the All Genres Project Market and mark the first time Focus Asia's top honors were awarded exclusively to debut directors.
Read the original story: Variety
