2021 HFPA Scholarship Contest
The short films listed below were created by young Asian filmmakers and have been
selected for consideration by an HFPA Jury for a $5000 Scholarship.
2021 WINNER
Hollywood Foreign Press Association Scholarship Award of $5000
On the Silk Road (Uzbekistan), Sherzod Nazarov, director.
2021 HFPA JURY MEMBERS
Lena Basse (Ukraine)
Lena Basse has been an Entertainment Correspondent for numerous outlets for countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania since 2010. She has been a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association since 2016 where she is also a member of the Viewing Committee for the Foreign Language Film Series. She has served as a jury member for the French Riviera Film Festival since 2019. Lena holds a BA from Kiev State University.
Diana Lee Inosanto (United States)
For Diana Lee Inosanto, becoming part of the iconic Star Wars franchise may seem like a dream, but it is very much the real-life culmination of 30 years of dedication and hard work. Diana joined the cast of The Mandalorian for the show’s second season as the Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth after doing almost every job Hollywood has to offer, from stunt person to director. But mostly, Diana credits her success to having the good fortune of being raised in a charmed circle of renowned martial artists, actors, and stunt-people who paved the way for so much of the excitement in today’s action-filled media. Diana is the daughter of martial arts legend, Dan, and his wife Sue Inosanto. She is also the goddaughter of the global icon, the late Bruce Lee (hence, Diana Lee). As an American actress, director, writer, martial artist, stuntwoman, and children’s book author, Diana paved a way in the Hollywood ecosystem that is unique, modern, and inclusive.
Yuxin Liu (China)
Yuxin Liu is an award-winning Chinese actress and model, best known for her roles in many hit shows and films in China, such as the action war feature Mulan: Rise of a Warrior, and historical fiction TV series' Scarlet Heart and Secret History of Princess Taiping. She recently produced and starred in the Xianxia series Three Lives, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book, which received over 8 billion views online.
Sun Kim (South Korea – United States)
As a producer, writer, and director of award-winning feature film Innocent Blood (2014) and other short films, Korean/American filmmaker Sun Kim has dedicated his career to inspiring and promoting Christian filmmakers through the Talent 1 Media film festival where the careers of many actors and filmmakers had their beginning, such as James Marcus Haney, Jun Sung Kim, Lance Lim, and Arden Cho. As an ordained minister, Sun Kim strongly believes in reigniting the church’s vital identity, that which reflects God’s transcending beauty through the Arts.
Alan Vo Ford (Vietnam)
Alan Vo Ford is an award-winning film executive producer, producer, and SAG-AFTRA actor. He has interests in many businesses, is the Asia director for a regional center EB5 licensed by USCIS/Department of Homeland Security, and serves on the Board of Directors for several large community events such as the Tet Parade and Quang Tri Monument.
Truc Diem (Vietnam)
Truc Diem is a Vietnamese actress/model who began her modeling career after being crowned 1st runner up of the 2005 Miss Vietnam contest. She made her acting debut in 2010 as the lead actress in the feature film Snow White's Diary, which reached the top of the box office that year. This was followed by a leading role in Passion, which was screened at the 2016 Asian Film Festival in Malaysia and nominated for the Golden Kite Awards (Vietnam’s equivalent of the Oscars). Diem also made a notable impression in her supporting role as “Ha Mi” in the feature film How to Fight in Six Inch Heels, directed by Ham Tran and produced by Timothy Linh Bui. Since 2019 Diem has been an appointed “Gangwon do Korea Tourism Ambassador” and in her free time loves to help people and animals in need. She has raised considerable money for charity and has joined the Vietnam animals rescue team, advocating to stop the dog meat trade in Vietnam.
Louise de Stael (France)
Louise de Stael graduated from Paris Dauphine University and HEC Paris and currently works for the group Superprod, a production, distribution, and music publishing company based in France. She has spent 7 years as CFO and producer and, since 2018, has been Head of the US subsidiary of the company.
Through Superprod, Louise has participated in the creation of an animated studio and the production of many animated TV series and feature films for prestigious partners such as Disney, Dreamworks, and Netflix. Louise also produced the feature film Indésirables in 2013 and the short film Summer of Snakes in 2019.
A huge thanks to our wonderful curators for helping us select and discover these movies:
• AITYSH FOUNDATION, Kyrgyzstan & CSI Countries
• BEIRUT FILM SOCIETY (Middle East) - Sam Lahoud
• CBN, Vietnamese Network TV
• FILAM CREATIVE, Filipino-American entertainment community
• KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER, LA
• Salvatore Leocata: North Africa & West Africa
• MoRedii (China & Asian American)
• OLU Olukayode, West Africa
• Mohammed Rouda, Middle East & Africa
• LA JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL, Naoyuki Ikeda,
• Haris Sulong (Malaysia)