2023 Princess Grace Award
Nominated by: Pepi Ginsberg, Princess Grace Award winner (Film 2021)
Cary Grant Film Honor
Additional Grants:
2026 Special Project Grant
Yuan Yuan is a writer-director originally from China and based in Los Angeles. She received her M.F.A. from New York University’s Graduate Film Program, where she was awarded the Ang Lee Scholarship.
Before attending NYU, she worked as an assistant director for Inner Mongolian filmmaker Wuershan and later in feature film development with Academy Award-winning producer Bill Kong.
Her short film, Heading South, received the Grand Prize at the 25th DGA Student Film Awards and the Best Student Film Award at Palm Springs ShortFest. Her latest short, When Winter Comes, produced with support from the Spike Lee Production Fund, received a Special Mention at the First International Film Festival, and the Focus Features Best Film Award.
Yuan is currently developing feature films. Her projects have been selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and Directors Lab, and Berlinale Talents Tokyo, and have received support from the SFFILM Rainin Grant. Her work explores themes of displacement, cultural identity, and family through intimate, character-driven storytelling and a strong visual sensibility.