42nd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Announces Award Winners

May 6, 2026

LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL 2026 ANNOUNCES AWARD WINNERS

LUCKY LU, Directed by Lloyd Lee Choi Wins Jury Prize For Best Narrative Feature

ALWAYS, Directed by Deming Chen Wins Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature

AGAPITO, Directed by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Romero Wins Golden Reel Award
For Best Narrative Short

IN THE MORNING SUN, Directed by Serville Poblete Wins Golden Reel Award
For Best Documentary Short

Directors David Huang, Albie Smith, and Paul K. Oh Wins Linda Mabalot New Visions Award 

(May 6, 2026) Los Angeles, CA – Visual Communications (VC),  the first non-profit organization in the US dedicated to the honest and accurate portrayals of Asian, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander communities through media arts announced the award winners for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) – the 42nd edition of their film festival, also known as the VC FILM FEST.  The largest Festival of its kind in Southern California, LAAPFF celebrated 5 days of film presentations and panel discussions; centering the storytelling power from Asian, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander communities, and encouraged audiences to activate that power into action at home to build solidarity with organizations of people of the global majority.

Jurors from different regions around the world were able to participate in this year’s Festival.

In the Narrative Features section, jurors Lynn Chen, Joyce Liu-Countryman, and Sean Metzger bestowed the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature to LUCKY LU, directed by Lloyd Lee Choi

Lloyd Lee Choi (Director, LUCKY LU). (Photo By Sthanlee B. Mirador/LAAPFF)

The jury also gave a Special Recognition Award for Writing to PINCH, directed by Uttera Singh and written by Uttera Singh and Adam Linzey.

In the Documentary Feature section, jurors Vera Brunner-Sung, Joel Quizon, and Lindy Leong awarded ALWAYS, directed by Deming Chen with the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. 

The jury also gave a Special Recognition Award for Editing to BEFORE THE MOON FALLS, directed by Kimberlee Bassford and edited by Jessica Lee Salas.

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is proud to be an Academy Award® qualifying Festival for the Short Film Awards. Recipient(s) of the Film Festival’s Golden Reel Award for Narrative/Animated Short Film will be eligible to submit in the Animated Short Film/Live-Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards® and recipient(s) of the Film Festival’s Golden Reel Award for Documentary Short Film will be eligible to submit in the Documentary Short Film category of the Academy Awards®. In the Shorts section, jurors Wilda Wong, Lauren To’omalatai, and Nirav Bhakta gave the Golden Reel Award for Best Narrative Short to AGAPITO, directed by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Romero and the Golden Reel Award Winner for Best Documentary Short to IN THE MORNING SUN, directed by Serville Poblete.

The jury gave Special Recognitions for Acting to the Narrative short BESIEGED, directed by Kiarash Ardeshirpour and starring Sonia Sanjari.

The jury also gave a Special Recognition for Directing to the Documentary short CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG, directed by Hao Zhou.

Linda Mabalot New Visions Award: WE BUY GOLD, Directed by David Huang and Albie Smith

Linda Mabalot New Visions Award: CORRESPONDENCE, Directed by Paul K. Oh

LAAPFF also announced 3 more award winners, that celebrate the passion and of the next generation of storytellers.

Former Visual Communications Executive Director Linda Mabalot is lovingly remembered for her passion and commitment to nurturing and developing emerging Asian Pacific filmmakers. In that spirit, the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award is presented to two short films that demonstrates an innovative and creative use of cinematic language. Previous recipients include TAMA TU (dir. Taika Waititi), PILGRIMAGE (dir. Tadashi Nakamura), PAULINA (dir. Caylee So), MISS WORLD (dir. Georgia Fu), DRIFTING (dir. Hanxiong Bo) and F1-100 (dir. Emory Chao Johnson). This year’s Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award is given to WE BUY GOLD, directed by David Huang and Albie Smith and CORRESPONDENCE, directed by Paul K. Oh.

Emerging Filmmaker Award Yuzhu Hao and Yanv Chen, directors of CHASING THE STAR (Photo By Sthanlee B. Mirador/LAAPFF)

The Emerging Filmmaker Awards are given to Feature filmmakers who have shown amazing promise as our future filmmakers and storytellers. Filmmakers with their first or second feature film are eligible for the award. This year’s recipients are:

•  Yuzhu Hao and Yanv Chen for CHASING THE STAR 

Visual Communications continues its legacy as the first non-profit organization in the US dedicated to the honest and accurate portrayals of the Asian Pacific American peoples, communities, and heritage through the media arts. Audiences are encouraged to check out more films online in the VC Archives, one of the largest photographic and moving image archives on Asian Pacific experiences in America archives.vcmedia.org/