Napa Film Fest Spotlights Asian American Women Filmmakers And Creators
India-West Staff Reporter
NAPA, CA – Centering Asian American women as storytellers and creative leaders, the Napa Valley Asian American Film Festival returns February 6 and 7, 2026, with a program that places women’s voices at the heart of contemporary cinema before widening the lens to industry leaders, emerging filmmakers, and community partnerships.
Building on that focus, the festival will be guest-directed this year by acclaimed filmmaker Hikari, whose latest feature, ‘Rental Family’ from searchlight pictures and starring Brendan Fraser, will open the event. The curated lineup emphasizes female-led films alongside post-screening conversations that examine how Asian American women continue to shape filmmaking as directors, writers, producers, and performers, often without proportional recognition.
A central figure in this year’s programming is Sanjay M. Sharma, founder of Marginal Mediaworks, who serves as both a curator and moderator for the festival. Sharma will help guide onstage conversations with filmmakers and industry leaders, situating women’s creative work within the broader realities of independent filmmaking and the evolving business of cinema.
Among the standout selections this year is ‘F*cktoys’, written, directed by, and starring Annapurna Sriram. Curated by Sharma, the film recently won a special jury award at SXSW. Sharma described Sriram as a bold, genre-defying filmmaker adding that the festival will host an intimate discussion on her creative journey and the challenges currently facing independent cinema.
One of the festival’s major honors will go to veteran actress Kiều Chinh, who will receive the lifetime legacy award for courage in cinema. She broke barriers in Hollywood through performances grounded in resilience and emotional truth. Her work includes ‘The Joy Luck Club’ and more recent appearances in HBO’s ‘The Sympathizer.’ To commemorate her legacy, the festival will screen her early film ‘warrior, who are you?’.
The festival continues its partnership with IW group, the multicultural agency affiliated with Omnicom, along with Napa Valley College, filmmakers, producers, and community leaders. Bill Imada, founder of IW group, said the return of the festival reflects sustained community enthusiasm for seeing Asian American stories on the big screen and builds on the success of last year’s inaugural event at the napa valley college performing arts center.
CAPE, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, will again curate a block of three narrative short films by emerging filmmakers.
