Armed With a Camera captures the stories of peoples in movement. These Artists reflect imagination and adventure, desperation and courage, minds and bodies moving by leaping and struggling towards new possibilities and futures. Asians and Pacific Islanders in America have always had to create stories and present truths about our communities. They are heirs to that heritage and their stories help bind us to that legacy of our struggles, of and for movements, created through media.
Since 2002, Armed with a Camera Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists (AWC) has developed and supported over 175 Asian American & Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander filmmakers. Cultivating a rising generation of artists committed to social and political changes and movements, these storytellers have empowered communities and challenged perspectives through their creative works.
For the 2026-2027 Fellowship, we sought SoCal-based Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) artists to utilize this year's theme, "MOVEMENT," as a point of inspiration. During this time of political and social turbulence, we invite our fellows to reflect on the past and present while considering what moves them, both body and mind, whether it is a journey, a gesture, a belief, or a memory.
Visual Communications will work with the Fellows for 12 months (Starting in Fall 2026). Their projects will World Premiering at the 43rd Edition of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. During the program, Fellows will be supported by mentors and advisors while creatively producing works to engage our communities. Each Fellow will receive a $2,500 personal stipend, in addition to a $2,500 project stipend to support the creation of their media works.
MEET THE 2026-2027 AWC FELLOWS
HSIAO-HSIA “CHARLOTTE” HUANG
Hsiao-Hsia “Charlotte” Huang is a writer-director based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Taiwan, she earned her B.A. in English Literature from Fu Jen Catholic University and her M.F.A. in Film Directing from Chapman University.
Her storytelling spans genres, from intimate family and coming-of-age dramas to high-stakes psychological thrillers. Her films have been selected for multiple Academy Award- and BAFTA-qualifying film festivals. Her short film Jin, exploring the experiences of a Chinese immigrant father in America, has screened at multiple Asian American film festivals and the Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Award – Youth Short Film Season in China.
Known for her distinctive visual storytelling, Charlotte brings a strong cinematic vision from script to screen. Through her work, she seeks to illuminate immigrant experiences, explore complex social issues, and amplify underrepresented voices, inspiring audiences to see everyday life from new perspectives.
JOSIAH MENDOZA
Josiah Mendoza is a Filipino-American filmmaker and journalist born and raised on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. A 2026 Sundance Ignite Fellow, he holds a BFA in Documentary Filmmaking and Visual Journalism from Chapman University’s Dodge College. His nonfiction work aims to interpolate the devices of narrative cinema to emulate the ephemeral texture of memory, guided throughout by a single pursuit: finding beauty in what others might dismiss as mundane. Inspired by his favorite book, Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, Josiah pursues stories through both art and reporting as a way to live through the questions that still confuse him. His films have screened at festivals across the country, including DOC NYC, the Calgary International Film Festival, and the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. He finds it strange to be writing about himself in the third person. (I do; this is true.)
KIMBERLY XIONG
Kim Xiong is a writer, director, and producer born and raised in Fresno, California. The eldest daughter of Hmong refugees, she creates genre-driven stories exploring family, memory, and transformation. Drawn to mythmaking, she seeks to expand the possibilities of Southeast Asian storytelling through film.
She is currently a Senior Producer at Riot Games, where she leads creative production for major campaigns. Her narrative directorial debut, CRYBABY, is a surreal sci-fi comedy short about two sisters navigating a world where humanity has lost the ability to cry. The film has screened at LA Shorts International Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival, DisOrient Asian American Film Festival, and Tallgrass Film Festival.
She is currently developing a supernatural coming-of-age film inspired by Hmong spiritual traditions and her family's experiences as refugees in the 1980s.
MERRY MAY MA
While pursuing her UCLA Directing MFA, Merry May produced/directed/edited SOJOURNEY (2024), an intimate documentary featuring Lorinda, a domestic violence survivor turned “Artivist” who fuses comedy with faith. SOJOURNEY was a finalist for 2025 Yugo BAFTA Student Film Awards and PBS Fine Cut.
Driven to showcase science as art, she collaborated with UCLA chemical engineers on GARDENERS (@gardeners2025), exploring the beauty of mushroom music and nano-sciences. Awarded the $30K Alfred P. Sloan Grant and Panavision New Filmmaker Grant, GARDENERS screened at Film Independent Sloan Summit, LA Shorts, Reel Champions, and Naples International Film Festival. She is currently developing her debut feature, ENTANGLED BEINGS.
Dedicated to creating communities, Merry May co-founded UCLA’s inaugural AAPI film festival, API Film Night (@apifilmnight). Explore her journey at merrymayma.com
NICOLE MARIOSE DIZON
Nicole Mairose Dizon is a Filipina-American (Kapampangan) writer, director, producer, and third space curator. Growing up around mines in Baldwin Park, CA, her work explores strivers, class, and the overlooked through the lens of surrealism and magical realism. Her insomniac T’boli dreamweaver film “Ruya” won Best Narrative Experimental Film at Urbanworld Film Festival 2025. Dizon earned fellowships from Film Independent, the California Arts Council, Level Ground, and Deutsche Bank Frieze LA with Fifth Season and Ghetto Film School. Her NAACP Award-winning producing work screens on The New Yorker. She supported writers’ rooms on Amazon's Blade Runner 2099 and Netflix’s Trinity. Dizon shapes the live music world through her work with Goldenvoice, Insomniac, and the Future Festival & Major Events Leaders Training Program through the Coalition of Festivals and Major Events in partnership with The FAM, Goldenvoice, AEG Presents, and more. Outside of work, she loves music production, baseball, and Duolingo.
UDAY MISRA
Uday Misra (He/Him) is a first-generation Maryland-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker and former tech worker. He incorporates elements of narrative fiction, interview-based nonfiction, and sensory cinematic technique to craft experiential still and moving image works that illuminate the contemporary lived experiences of neurodivergent South Asian American children of immigrants.
He is a 2026 graduate of the CalArts MFA Film Directing Program, with a background in teaching along with work as a Writer/Director, Producer, Assistant Director, Script Supervisor, and Director’s Assistant. He recently completed his graduate thesis narrative short film "Whirl", and his previous narrative short film "Odyssey Baby" was selected to screen at the REDCAT Theatre in Los Angeles as part of a juried curation of films at the CalArts end-of-year showcase.
Uday is also a Rickshaw Film Foundation alum and is currently a Fall 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the Reef Residency, where he is developing his first feature screenplay.
MEET THE 2026-2027
AWC MENTORS
SUE DING
Sue Ding is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and visual artist based in Los Angeles. Her work explores race, gender, and diaspora through the lens of visual culture and place-based storytelling. Sue directed and edited the short documentaries The Claudia Kishi Club (SXSW ’20), Makeover Movie (IDFA ’23), and How the West Was Fun (True/False ’25). Her films can be found on Netflix, PBS, and Vimeo Staff Picks. In 2023, she was featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film”. She is a 2026 Creative Capital Awardee and Concordia Fellow.
FAROUKH VIRANI
Faroukh Virani is an LA-based editor who works in both narrative and documentary formats, finding that one storytelling style informs the other in his work. Faroukh has recent post-production credits on ABC's "HIGH POTENTIAL" and CW's “WALKER.” He's an active member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.
NORBERT SHIEH
Norbert Shieh (he/him) is a Taiwanese American filmmaker and director of photography based in Los Angeles. His films span experimental and documentary work and have screened at venues including the Flaherty Seminar, New York Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Antimatter, and Jihlava International Film Festival. A Creative Capital Award recipient, Sundance/TAAF Collab Scholar, and 2022 CAAM Fellow, he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2019. He also co-programs Shadow Kitchen, a Los Angeles filmmakers co-op supporting independent and experimental cinema.
AWC PROJECTS
CLASS OF 2026
Coffee Kang, A SWIM IN THE DESERT
Alexandra “Lexie” Orr, HUGS & KISSES
Matthew Kim, MY FATHER WAS A FOOTBALLER
Meloddy Gao, RAMEN WESTERN
Libby Chun, SOMEWHERE TO BE
Benjamin Pola, TUIMASEVE: A HIGH CHIEF STORY
CLASS OF 2024
Alfred Bordallo, DIGITAL CAMOUFLAGE | DAUGHTER OF GUAM
Bryson Nihipali, KE ALA
Honestine Pa'ala-Fraser, COME TOGETHER
Kayli Kimura, SANSEDAI
Paula Kiley, BALIK/BAYAN
Zaynah Waseem, BEYOND BORDERED HISTORIES | FROM KARACHI, WITH LOVE
CLASS OF 2023
Veialu Aila-Unsworth, BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI
M. Kaleipumehana Cabral, KA ʻĀʻUMEʻUME: NAVIGATING HOME
Peter Filimaua, TALA’S BEDTIME STORY
Alexis Si'i, MORE BOUNCE
Lauren To'omalatai, SNACK
Misa Tupou, MY BROTHER
CLASS OF 2021
Iliana Garcia, A GUIDE FOR WHEN IMMIGRANTS BECOME ANCESTORS
Candace Ho, w(HO)
Kitty Hu, HEY THERE
Melanie Lim, WINSTON
Molvatu Sae-Ue, FARLAND
Brandon Soun, CAMBODIA TOWN THRIVES
Olivia Stark, JOOK
Evelyn Hang Yin, LET ME TAKE YOU HOME
Ziyao Liu, THE BLESSING
CLASS OF 2020
Nirav Bhakta, THANK YOU, COME AGAIN
Sandra Lucille, BACK TO THE SOURCE
Kristy Choi, HERSELVES
Katherine Chou, A CURE FOR ALL THINGS
Serena Hodges, MANGO BABY
NamQuyen (Q) Le, COFFEE TALKING OUT OF COFFINS
King Lu, HOME
Justin Ricafort, ETA
Bryan Sih, AFTERIMAGES
So Young Shelly Yo, CRASHING WHEELS ON CONCRETE
CLASS OF 2019
Leatrice Ching, PORRIDGE
Eleanor Cho, DAY BY DAY
Sarah Cho, COLOR-BLIND
Varun Chounal, CURD
Xin Li, PASSENGER
David Liu, ANGELS LANDING
Chris Nguyen, TRAILS
Isue Shin, MEN HELPING WOMEN
CLASS OF 2018
Johnson Cheng, BEAST
Varun Chopra, WRECK IT RAJ
Jing Niu, HORNET’S REVENGE
Jingyi Shao, ILY
Dawn Shim, 6,000 MILES
Rajendra Thakurathi, THE CARTOONIST
So Yun Um, LIQUOR STORE BABIES
CLASS OF 2017
Alice Hsieh, THE COGMILL KIDS
Crystal Jow, HUM
Tuan Quoc Le, 127 MINUTES
Carmen Liang & Steven Liang, EMMA AND THE BUTT
Joshua Lim, NUWA
Lya Lim, SHUT IT ALL DOWN
Miko Revereza, DISINTEGRATION 93-96
Shaun Vivaris, A TIME TO BLEED
CLASS OF 2016
Sumiko Braun, HEART OF MIND
Conrad Lihilihi, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CLAIRE
Quyen Nguyen-Le, NUOC
Tulica Singh, FAMILY PORTRAIT
Kayla Tong, HOME IS WHERE THE SUNSETS
Faroukh Virani, SAMEER AND THE GIANT SAMOSA
Stanley Wong, HAND FART
CLASS OF 2015
Angela Chen, TRIAD OF US, MY DAD
Susumu Kimura, YAKUZA NO. 2
Viet Lê, eclipse (ruby)
Allison Nakamura, ALL THE WAY
Yoko Okumura, OUR PLACE IN THE SKY
Weldon Powers, THE CUT THROUGH
Norbert Shieh, FRANK AND KASS
CLASS OF 2014
Soo Hyun Chung, IF YOU LIVED HERE, YOU'D BE HOME ALREADY
Masami Kawai, NAMI
Raymond C. Lai, KEN MIURA: UNHEARD OF
Rahat Mahajan, RESIGNATION (Istifa)
Nicole Miyahara, TO SIT WITH HER
Genevieve Erin O'Brien, FOR THE LOVE OF UNICORNS
Charles Son, SUCCESS
Justin Tan, GIVE IT UP
Eugene Lee Yang, COMFORT GIRLS
CLASS OF 2013
Asiroh Cham, MY NAME IS ASIROH
Maritte Go, RED
Jon Maxwell, KENI
Zumi Mizokami, Q & X
Angela Park, THE LOVE REMAINS
Tiger Souvannakoumane, IN BETWEEN MY HANDMADE MOMENTS
Aya Tanimura, KILL OF THE NIGHT
Ivan Tsang, UNFRIENDED
Mukesh Vidyasagar, LAST NIGHT
Christopher Yogi, MAKOTO: OR, HONESTY
CLASS OF 2012
Micki Davis, MAGELLAN DOESN'T LIVE HERE
Veena Hampapur, BASKETBALL, MERI JAAN
JoAnn Do Hockersmith, PRESCRIBED
Kevin Lam, TELLY
Kelly Li, CAFÉ ELEVÉ
Jeff Man, THAT PARTICULAR TIME
Jonathan Moy, SIX FROM CERTAIN
Jocelyn Saddi-Lenhardt, MOTHER & CHILD
Michael Shu, UNMENTIONABLES
Timothy Tau, KEYE LUKE
CLASS OF 2011
Sheldon Chau, TO LIGHT
Michele Gutierrez, 11 24
Sarah Kim, ODE TO A CHRISTMAS TREE
Everett Lee-Sung, ALL AMERICAN
Erin Li, L.A. COFFIN SCHOOL
Ami Patel, STILL LIFE WITH
Julius Sambajon, Jr., SEARCHING FOR DON "HALF-PINT" SANTOS
Roxy Shih, PLAY TIME
Chingya Wang, AYUMI'S WEDDING RING
Jefferson Wu, DRONE
CLASS OF 2010
Ngoc Ho, THE SEAMSTRESS
Tani Ikeda, WIND IN A BOX
Joseph Kamiya, CLEAN-UP
William Kwok, GRANDMA
Emily Lu, SLIP AND SLIDE
Lin Qiu, BETTER THAN BLUE
Preeti Sharma, RAISING EYEBROWS
Michael Wong, BRIDES WANTED
James Yamanoha, WHITE ON INFOMERCIAL
CLASS OF 2008
Jean Ho, PARTY HATS ON, PLEASE
Tony Hoang, MEET FRIENDS, SWAP CHILDHOODS
Kuang Lee, HEROES AND VILLAINS
Rochelle Lozada, CELEBRATION
Lisa Nguyen, NOT IN MY BACKYARD
Suilma Rodriguez, DIM SUM AND THE RACETRACK
Mark Villegas, LEGEND
Brian Wee, WAKING HOUR
CLASS OF 2007
Jerry Chan, DJ:LA
Rey Corpuz, THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM
David Ngo, BREAK-UP THERAPY
Mina T. Son, PAST THE FOOD
Tam Tran, LOST & FOUND
Jenni Trang Le, OH MOMMY! (Me Oi)
Nadine Truong, THE MUSE
Jin Yoo-Kim, BEARING DREAMS
CLASS OF 2006
Rhianne Paz Bergado, THE DEBUTANTES OF ORANGE COUNTY
Michael D. Caigoy, HANG IN THERE, BABY!
Maricar Camaya, TRANS ART
Sandra Chheng, FOR TOMORROW MAY RAIN
Joseph Phong Dao and Koji Steven Sakai, YIGGER
Jay Esguerra, HONORABLE SON
Gabe Pagtama, HOOPTOWN INTERNATIONAL
Apollo Victoria, A DAY BEHIND BARS
Rebecca Yee, PANDA MAN
CLASS OF 2005
Tina Bhaga, POST NATYAM
Ted Chung, PASSAGES
Patrick Epino, VOID
Cindy Fang, HOW TO BE A HONG KONG SUPERSTAR
Anson Ho, ON YOUR OWN
Sasha Hsuczyk, EVERYTHING WAS GOOD WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
William Lu, SPY MOMS
Megumi Nishikura, PEACE BEGINS WITH ME AND YOU
Grace Su, FUTURE ROCKSTARS OF AMERICA
CLASS OF 2004
Roldan "R.J." Lozada, down so bad looking up
John Nguyen, WHAT'S FOR DINNER, DEAR?
Lushun Quon, THE INTERVIEW
Mia Villanueva, MY FAMILY'S LULLABY
Chris Woon, AMONG B-BOYS
CLASS OF 2003
Daniel Hsia, I HATE CHEESE
Timothy Jieh, FIXed
Evan Jackson Leong, SUCKERBALL 73
Karin Mak, UNUSUAL, CONSPICUOUS & OVERWHELMING
Kristina Sheryl Wong, BEAT THE BUS!
FOUNDING CLASS
Ralph Buado, SIERRA HWY
Alice Chen, MOONLIGHT
Shawn Chou, TOMATO & EGGS
Michelle Yap Dizon, BOY
Ernesto Foronda, THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Yiuwing Lam, YAH YAH
Neight Gee Tang, BLEACH
SUPPORT EMERGING ARTISTS
The Armed With a Camera Fellowship is supported by grants and individual donors such as yourself. We are deeply grateful to the friends of the Elizabeth Sung who created the Elizabeth Sung Memorial Scholarship Fund to continue her spirit of supporting emerging artists. All donations are 100% tax-deductible. Thank you all for your continued support of this great program!
AWC IS SUPPORTED BY
ALAN KONDO & RUTH WAKABAYASHI
ELIZABETH SUNG MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
