AWARD WINNERS
2026 marked the official launch of MAiFF’s two main artist awards. Named after dancheong (단청 / 丹靑), the ancient Korean art of painting wooden palaces with vivid colours, the Dancheong Competition honours emerging filmmakers who are painting bold new strokes through cinematic narratives. It specifically celebrates Asian and Asian-Canadian directors presenting their first or second films. The Silk Thread Awards are drawn from all festival sections, recognizing the rarest and freshest works in the festival by the jury.
Nine winners were selected across both competitions:
DANCHEONG COMPETITION
Grand Prix / Best Director — Claudia Tuyết Scheffel for Loney & Havender
Best Screenplay — Choi Jeongdan for In the Sea of Strange Thoughts
Best Cinematography — Park Hae-Oh for Broken Dawn
Best Actor — Tri Ân Bùi for Loney & Havender
Best Editing — David Quach for Dad vs. Bees
SILK THREAD AWARDS
Best Director — Minsook Lee for There Are No Words
Best Actor — Yoo Yi-Ha for The Final Semester
Best Artistic Production — Kyungbin Park for Only for a Day
Best Music Score — Andrew Yong Hoon Lee for There Are No Words
SPECIAL MENTION
Sandra Desmazieres, for Comme un fleuve
Alice Shin, for Landscapes of Home
International Jury
Awardees were selected by an international jury composed of industry professionals and artists. The invited jurors were:
Park Ri-Woong (Korea, Filmmaker, winner of the 2025 KFFC Best Director Award for Land of Morning Calm)
William Dere (Quebec, Filmmaker and writer, films incl. Moving the Mountain and Etre chinois au Quebec)
Yiou Wang (China/US, Media artist, co-founder of Mixanthropy Studio), and
Sarah-Maude Lemieux (Quebec, Film student, long-time volunteer with Arts East-West).
Films in Competition: Shortlist
The 13th edition of MAiFF is proud to announce the official selections for the 2026 MAiFF Dancheong Competition and the Silk Threads Award: Jury's Choice shortlist. Bringing together bold cinematic voices from across the Asian diaspora and beyond, this selection highlights powerful storytelling, diverse perspectives, and visionary filmmaking from around the world.
MAiFF celebrates these remarkable filmmakers and looks forward to sharing their works with audiences during our 2026 festival edition. The official winners will be announced at the Closing Ceremony on June 13th.
Jury's Special Mention
The Asian-Canadian Animation Spotlight and the Han Okhi Retrospective are both included as
