Newfest Announces 2025 Recipients of New Voices Filmmaker Grant in Partnership With Netflix to Support Emerging Filmmakers

NewFest , New York's leading LGBTQ+ film and media organization, announced the 2025 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant , a collaborative effort with Netflix to support emerging directors who tell stories from the queer perspective. Now in its fourth year, the artist development initiative program awards each of the four recipient filmmakers with a $25,000 grant to support their professional development and create new work, as well as provides them with access to network-building opportunities through industry events and a mentorship track facilitated by NewFest.

The 2025 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant are MG Evangelista , Shuli Huang , Farah Jabir , and Kevin Xian Ming Yu .

"We are thrilled to announce the 2025 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant, each of whom showcase a remarkable combination of vision, resourcefulness, and commitment to the future of LGBTQ+ storytelling," said NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff and Director of Programming Nick McCarthy in a joint statement. "As we enter the fourth year of this vital artist development initiative, we're excited to introduce this new class of directors to a broader industry network and support the bold new work that Farah, Kevin, MG, and Shuli will bring into the world. We are immensely grateful to the final jury for their thoughtful selections, and to Netflix, whose continued partnership with NewFest makes it possible to provide emerging filmmakers with the resources, mentorship, and industry access that can truly transform careers."

In addition to the grant's funding, each of these four filmmakers will have the opportunity to connect with both creative and industry mentors relevant to their work and engage with partner organizations, industry markets, consultants and leaders in the field. Previous Creative Mentors to grantees have included Jane Schoenbrun , Charlotte Wells , Chase Joynt , Aitch Alberto , Shatara Michelle Ford , and Andrew Ahn . New Voices grantees will also have their work showcased and participate in events during NewFest's annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, one of the largest and most respected queer film festivals in the world, this October.

NewFest received more than 500 applications for this year's New Voices Filmmaker Grant via an open submission process starting in January 2025. The grant is eligible to filmmakers in the US who are creating stories from the LGBTQ+ perspective and have not previously made a feature-length film, or have never had a film (short, episodic, or feature-length) publicly distributed with an exclusive and compensated agreement. Applications and short-form work samples were reviewed by an inclusive and diverse selection of LGBTQ+ programmers, film and television industry professionals, critics, agents, community leaders, NewFest staff, and established filmmakers, and supported by NewFest's New Voices Filmmaker Grant Coordinator Arno Mokros.

Final grantee selections for the 2025 cohort were decided by an external jury of esteemed LGBTQ+ filmmakers with connections throughout the industry, including Academy Award nominee Yance Ford (director, Strong Island; Power ), Isabel Sandoval (director, Lingua Franca ), and Roshan Sethi (director, A Nice Indian Boy ).

NewFest and Netflix's partnership began in 2021 and is supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity , which is an initiative to help support new voices and create more behind-the-camera opportunities for underrepresented communities within the film and TV industries.

Last year's recipients were Apa Agbayani, Angalis Field, Clementine Narcisse, and cai thomas. The 2023 recipients were Terrance Daye, Drew de Pinto, Emily May Jampel, and LaQuan Lewis. The inaugural recipients in 2022 were Blanche Akonchong, Livia Huang, Rodney Llaverías, and Nyala Moon.

Program alumni have gone on to achieve major career milestones, from earning writing credits on studio series to developing feature films. Their work has been supported by institutions such as TorinoFilmLab's FeatureLab, Locarno Filmmakers Academy, Art21, the Leslie-Lohman Artist Fellowship, UFO Short Film Lab, and Queer|Art's Illuminations Grant. Past grantees have been named to Filmmaker 's prestigious "25 New Faces of Independent Film" list and the DAZED 100. Their short films have screened at top-tier festivals including the Whitney Biennial, Locarno, San Sebastián, Palm Springs ShortFest, Aspen Shortsfest, and Frameline - and are available to stream on platforms such as MUBI, the Criterion Channel, The New Yorker, and NOWNESS.

Learn more about the New Voices Filmmaker Grant and keep up with the latest program updates at https://newfest.org/new-voices-grant .

2025 New Voices Filmmaker Grant Recipients

Mg Evangelista (they/them) MG Evangelista is a Filipino American writer-director. Evangelista's work spans narrative, commercial, and documentary filmmaking, exploring themes of identity, power and love. In 2024, Evangelista took part in Film Independent's Screenwriting Lab and Fast Track for their debut feature, Burning Well . The project and Evangelista have been supported by Tribeca Film Institute, Array, Torino FilmLab and SFFILM Rainin Grant. The feature is inspired by their award-winning short film Fran This Summer , which played in over 30 festivals worldwide, including the Sundance Film Festival. Evangelista received their MFA in Writing and Directing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and was a 2023 United States Artist Fellow and most recently an AFI DWW+ Directing Participant.

Shuli Huang (he/him) Shuli Huang is a Chinese writer-director and cinematographer based in New York City, whose work drifts between fiction and documentary. His short film, Will You Look at Me , premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2022, where it received the Queer Palm award, and went on to win the Short Film Jury Award at Sundance Film Festival 2023. In 2024, his short film, Goodbye First Love , premiered in competition at the Berlinale Shorts and was later presented at New Directors/New Films. As a cinematographer, Shuli's work includes feature films Farewell, My Hometown (recipient of the New Currents Award, Busan 2021) and Borrowed Time (IFFR 2024, Busan 2023). Shuli holds a BFA in cinematography from the Beijing Film Academy and an MFA in film directing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Farah Jabir (she/her) The first time Farah Jabir saw an exorcism, she was 8 years old, and so began a love affair with low budget horror cinema; her gateway drug to indie filmmaking. Now based in NYC, she directs short documentary and narrative films, produces music videos and commercials, and every now and then when the stars align, writes for TV. She is a recent alum of Film Independent's Producing Lab, Mentorship Matters (Amazon/Sony), The Thousand Miles Project (UCP) and the Asian-American Stories of Resilience programme (PBS/A-Docs). Her credits include commercials and music videos for clients like Nissan, Conde Nast, and Modelo, and screenings at SXSW, NewFest, and Raindance. She is Southeast Asian, South Asian, and Arab; a cross-cultural blend that has shaped her desire to pursue humanistic stories, centering people on the fringes of society and communal filmmaking outside of linguistic, genre, and geographic limitations. Her most recent short Kasbi had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival. Her next film Hantu will be her first attempt at directing something scary.

Kevin Xian Ming Yu (they/them) Kevin Xian Ming Yu is a non-binary filmmaker from Queens, NY. They were a 2023-2024 UFO Short Film Lab filmmaker and a 2024 Film at Lincoln Center Artist Academy Fellow. They were also selected to participate in the 2024/2025 NewFest/Concord Originals Sound & Scene Cohort. Their latest short film, Yú Cì (Fish Bones) , had its world premiere at SXSW 2025 and received a Special Jury Mention at the Provincetown International Film Festival. Kevin is committed to telling stories that start empathetic conversations across generations within Asian-American communities and diaspora. Kevin has also worked as a cinematographer on various short form content and two feature films. Their work as a cinematographer has screened at festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, New Orleans Film Festival, and Nashville Film Festival, and has been featured on Short of the Week and the A.V. Club.

Final Jury - 2025 New Voices Filmmaker Grant

Yance Ford Yance Ford is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy®-winning director whose work has made a lasting impact on the documentary field over the past two decades. His film, Strong Island , won a Gotham Award, a Primetime Emmy, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Ford's latest film, Power (Netflix), premiered at Sundance 2024 to critical acclaim for its unflinching examination of American policing. A Guggenheim and MacDowell Fellow, Ford has taught at colleges and universities nationwide. He is a graduate of the Third World Newsreel Production Workshop, a member of AMPAS and the DGA.

Isabel Sandoval US-based, Philippine-born Isabel Sandoval has emerged as "one of the most exciting and multitalented filmmakers on the indie scene with a bold approach to cinematic style," according to The Criterion Collection. The Museum of Modern Art has also recognized her as a "rarity among the young generation of Filipino filmmakers." She has directed four feature films. Her debut, Señorita, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Her critically acclaimed third feature, Lingua Franca, premiered in Venice and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. She starred in the César Award-winning short film Maria Schneider, 1983 (Cannes Film Festival '22) directed by Elisabeth Subrin. Her latest feature, Moonglow , will be premiering soon.

She has directed for television, including the acclaimed limited series Under the Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield and Sam Worthington. Isabel is developing her feature, Tropical Gothic , which won a development prize at the 2021 Berlinale. In 2022, having "demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in the field of theatrical motion pictures," she was invited to join the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is a member of the DGA and WGA.

Roshan Sethi Roshan Sethi is a writer, director, and a practicing oncologist. He is the co-creator of The Resident , which went for six seasons on Fox and is now available on Netflix. His directorial debut 7 Days (Hulu) won the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. He subsequently directed World's Best for Disney+, which was nominated for best fiction special at the 2024 Children & Family Emmy's. His third film as a director, A Nice Indian Boy (starring Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni), premiered at SXSW and was just released in theaters in April 2025. It's certified fresh with 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. His upcoming action-thriller The Surgeon is being produced by Thunder Road and stars Michelle Yeoh. It begins production in July 2025. His debut novel, The Simp , will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2026.

About NewFest Founded in 1988, NewFest is New York's largest presenter of LGBTQ+ film & media and the largest convener of LGBTQ+ audiences in New York City. NewFest's mission is to give voice and visibility to the full scope of the LGBTQ+ experience through films and programs that entertain, educate, and empower. NewFest presents year-round screenings and events, including the annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival. In bringing diverse audiences and filmmakers together, NewFest creates spaces and conversations that have the capacity to open minds, shift cultural bias, and create positive change. NewFest is dedicated to bringing together filmmakers and audiences to build a community that encompasses the wide range of representations of the LGBTQ+ experience. For more information, visit www.NewFest.org .

Press Contacts NewFest RJ Millard, Kory Mello, Brit Fallon, Sarah-Jayne Austin and Prakhyat Chouta [email protected]