We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Greetings!The broader retreat of diversity efforts over the last year has been frustrating for anyone who appreciates different voices and perspectives. That's why it was so encouraging to see East Asian American — and, in particular, female — filmmakers dominate the conversation at the Sundance Film Festival. Stephanie Ahn, Beth de Araújo, Kogonada, Liz Sargent, Josef Kubota Wladyka and Cathy Yan brought their latest to Sundance 2026, selling out screenings and getting distributors eager to bid on their projects. That second part is critical because it shows that these films weren't made for diversity's sake, and that there is a business justification and commercial demand for fresh takes. The buyer activity is doubly impressive given how challenging the indie film market has been in recent years, with last year's Sundance a virtual ghost town. While Sundance has a track record of East Asian American stories, from Chloé Zhao's "Songs My Brothers Taught Me" and in recent years, Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” what was unique about this year was the sheer breadth of talent on display all at once. This wasn't happenstance. What you saw was the result of younger filmmakers inspired by past successes like new Oscars mainstay Zhao. “It’s the Chloé Zhao effect. I think that female filmmakers are being taken seriously, in a way,” University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences Assistant Dean Shilpa Davé said of the Oscar-winning Chinese filmmaker behind “Nomadland” and this year’s Oscar-contending “Hamnet.” “She’s shown that there are people making these really, really great films.” Some also benefited from the support from organizations like the Coalition of Asian Pacifics, which was created with the mission of ensuring that Asian Pacific filmmakers don't slip through the cracks. The inaugural beneficiary of CAPE's Rising Filmmakers Fund, announced at last year's Sundance, was director Beth de Araújo and her second film “Josephine,” which won both the Grand Jury and Audience awards for the U.S. Dramatic Competition. “We try to look for the voids in the industry and then where we can plug in to help people who might otherwise not be supported,” Michelle Sugihara, executive director and CEO of CAPE, told our Casey Loving. Roger Cheng 
It was a banner year for Asian Americans at Sundance, with buyers keen to pick up their unique stories... 
| ||||||||||||
