Asian Film Award for Best New Director

Asian Film Award for Best New Director
Awarded for	Best New Director of the Year in Asian Cinema
Presented by	Asian Film Awards Academy
First award	2018
Most recent winner	Sandhya Suri Santosh (2025)
Website	afa-academy.com

The Asian Film Award for Best New Director has been presented annually since 2018 by the Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA), a non-profit organization founded by Busan International Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival with the shared goal of celebrating excellence in Asian cinema.

Winners and nominees

2010s

Year	Recipient(s)	English title	Original title	Ref.
2018	Dong Yue	The Looming Storm	暴雪将至	[1] [2]
	Vivian Qu	Angels Wear White	嘉年华
	Huang Hsin-yao	The Great Buddha+	大佛普拉斯
	Anucha Boonyawatana	Malila: The Farewell Flower	มะลิลา
	Yoshiyuki Kishi	Wilderness	あゝ、荒野
	Derek Hui	This Is Not What I Expected	喜欢你
2019	Oliver Chan	Still Human	淪落人	[3] [4]
	Yeo Siew Hua	A Land Imagined	幻土
	Rima Das	Bulbul Can Sing	बुलबुल गा सकती है
	Phuttiphong Aroonpheng	Manta Ray	กระเบนราหู
	Shinichirou Ueda	One Cut of the Dead	カメラを止めるな!
	Bai Xue	The Crossing	过春天

2020s

Year	Recipient(s)	English title	Original title	Ref.
2020	Hikari	37 Seconds		[5] [6]
	John Hsu	Detention	返校
	Liang Ming	Wisdom Tooth	日光之下
	Lee Sang-geun	Exit	엑시트
	Norris Wong	My Prince Edward	金都
	Sharipa Urazbayeva	Mariam
2021	Hong Eui-jeong	Voice of Silence	소리도 없이	[7] [8]
	Yūjirō Harumoto	A Balance	由宇子の天秤
	PS Vinothraj	Pebbles	Koozhangal
	Yin Ruoxi	Sisters	我的姐姐
	Han Shuai	Summer Blur	汉南夏日
	Ahmad Bahrami	The Wasteland	خامو شدشت
2023	Jigme Trinley	One and Four	一个和四个	[9] [10]
	Saim Sadiq	Joyland	جوائے لینڈ
	Makbul Mubarak	Autobiography
	Chie Hayakawa	Plan 75
	Kim Se-in	The Apartment with Two Women	같은 속옷을 입는 두 여자
2024	Nick Cheuk	Time Still Turns the Pages	年少日記	[11]
	Amanda Nell Eu	Tiger Stripes
	Phạm Thiên Ân	Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell	Bên trong vỏ kén vàng
	Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir	City of Wind	Сэр сэр салхи
	Dominic Sangma	Rapture
2025	/ Sandhya Suri	Santosh		[12]
	/ Neo Sora	Happyend
	Yoko Yamanaka	Desert of Namibia	ナミビアの砂漠
	Minh Quý Trương	Viet and Nam	Trong lòng đất
	Dong Zijian	My Friend An Delie	我的朋友安德烈

See also

• Blue Dragon Film Award for Best New Director
• Caméra d'Or
• César Award for Best First Film
• European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year
• Golden Horse Award for Best New Director
• Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Director

References

1. Shackleton, Liz (January 11, 2018). "'Legend Of The Demon Cat' leads Asian Film Awards nominations". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
2. Shackleton, Liz (March 17, 2018). "Feng Xiaogang's 'Youth' wins best film at Asian Film Awards". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
3. Lee, Edmund (January 11, 2019). "Asian Film Awards 2019 nominations: Burning, Shoplifters vie for top prizes". South China Morning Post . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
4. Lee, Edmund (March 18, 2019). "Asian Film Awards 2019 winners: Shoplifters named best picture; China, Japan and South Korea dominate". South China Morning Post . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
5. Noh, Jean (September 9, 2020). "'Parasite' heads nominations for first Asian Film Awards hosted by Busan". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
6. Noh, Jean (October 28, 2020). "'Parasite' wins top prize at Asian Film Awards". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
7. Soriano, Jianne (September 9, 2021). "Asian Film Awards 2021: Full List of Nominees". Tatler Asia . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
8. Soriano, Jianne (October 8, 2021). "All the Winners From the Asian Film Awards 2021". Tatler Asia . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
9. Rosser, Michael (January 6, 2023). "'Decision To Leave' leads Asian Film Awards nominations". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
10. Rosser, Michael (March 12, 2023). "'Drive My Car' wins top prize at Asian Film Awards, Tony Leung takes two trophies". Screen Daily . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
11. Frater, Patrick; Ramachandran, Naman (March 10, 2024). "'Evil Does Not Exist' Wins Best Picture at Asian Film Awards". Variety . Retrieved March 18, 2025.
12. Brzeski, Patrick (March 16, 2025). "Asian Film Awards: 'All We Imagine as Light' Wins Best Picture, Yoshida Daihachi Takes Best Director for 'Teki Cometh'". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved March 18, 2025.

External links

• Asian Film Awards Academy