FESTIVAL JURORS
The San Diego Asian Film Festival is a competitive film festival aiming to celebrate achievements in Asian American cinema. An independent jury of filmmakers, curators, critics, academics, and other professionals is chosen to view films and select winners in the following categories: narrative feature, documentary feature, narrative short, documentary short, and experimental short. Additionally, the jury selects a Grand Jury winner and an optional Special Jury mention.
For the ninth year, SDAFF also hosts a competition for international short films. This competition highlights some of the most innovative work produced in Asia and encompasses narrative, experimental, and documentary forms. The 2025 SDAFF Award Winners will be announced at this year’s SDAFF Awards Gala.
The 2025 SDAFF Asian American Competition Jury
Del Holton
Del Holton is a writer and programmer based in New York, with roots in the US South. They are currently a pre-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are pursuing a PhD in Art History at Stanford University. Most recently, they programmed CAAMFest 2025 with the Center for Asian American Media in San Francisco. Their writing appears in Film Quarterly, Screen Slate, Flash Art, Elephant Magazine, XTRA, Frontiers, and the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art.
Chris Jesu Lee
Chris Jesu Lee is a writer (and lawyer) in New York City. He has been published in Current Affairs, The Cleveland Review of Books, The Believer, and The Metropolitan Review. His other literary and cultural essays can be found on his Substack entitled Salieri Redemption.
Celeste Wong
Celeste Wong is a lifelong film and performing arts enthusiast based in Oakland. She has worked in programming for various film festivals nationwide, including Tribeca, Palm Springs ShortFest, Atlanta Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, and San Francisco DocFest.
