First-time filmmakers swept the board at Focus Asia 2026, which closed in the Italian town of Udine on Friday with two debut features claiming festival prizes.

"Naked in Glendale", a Chinese-American coming-of-age film directed by Haohao Yan, scooped the inaugural White Light Focus Asia Award, worth US$20,000 in post-production services. 

Produced by Jane Zheng (Seesaw Productions) and Julia Xu (Q&AEntertainment), "Naked in Glendale" is about a 12-year-old Chinese model student and her inexperienced teacher who develop secrets as they relocate to a Christian school in the U.S. under an Elite Education programme.

"Somewhere in the South", the Malaysian-Singaporean debut from director Ce Ding Tan and producers Edward Lim (Evil Genius Studio) and Anthony Chen (Giraffe Pictures), won the award from Taiwanese government agency, TAICCA. 

The film tracks a political campaign that descends on a small Malaysian town. When  its tiger mascot becomes an unexpected celebrity, a restless young man is forced to become the tiger himself to keep it.

The 11th edition of the Focus Asia event – part of the annual Far East Film Festival (FEFF) – drew over 200 industry participants from 40 territories, hosting 13 projects in development, 6 works in progress, and nearly 250 one-on-one meetings across three days of panels, case studies and networking.