The Asian Pacific Filmmakers Experience is proud to present the Irene Cho Pioneer Award to Director, Producer and Editor
@GeetaGandbhir and also congratulate her on her DOUBLE Oscar nomination this morning for her work on
@Netflix ās
@theperfectneighborfilm (Documentary Feature Film) and
@hbo ās
@thedevilisbusyfilm (Documentary Short Film).
The award is named in honor of one of the original founders of the APFE event ā Irene Cho ā who passed away unexpectedly in 2017. The award is given in Choās memory to an artist, creator or industry leader who exemplifies the mission of the organization in supporting API filmmakers in all aspects from resource building, networking, consulting and inspiration. Past recipients include Kim Yutani (Director of Programming ā Sundance Film Festival) and Nina Yang Bongiovi (Producer/Partner ā Significant Productions).
Geeta Gandbhir is an award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of Message Pictures. Recent
credits include the Oscar-nominated documentary āThe Perfect Neighborā which won the Directing Award for the US Documentary Competition and was bought by Netflix, the series āKatrina: Come Hell and High Waterā which premiered at #1 on Netflix, Oscar-nominated short āThe Devil is Busyā for HBO, āReclaimedā for Sesame Workshop, the Oscar Shortlisted film āHow We Get Freeā for HBO, the series āBorn in Synanonā for Paramount, the series āEyes on the Prizeā for HBO, the feature doc āLowndes County and the Road to Black
Power,ā which was nominated for the 2022 Critics Choice Award, won a 2023 SIMA Award, and won a 2023 Emmy Award. She directed and show ran the series āBlack and Missingā for HBO which won a 2022 NAACP Award for Best Directing, a 2022 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Series, a 2022 ATAS Honors Award, and a Cinema Eye Honors for Best Series. She directed the film āApart,ā with Rudy Valdez for HBO Max, and won a 2022 Emmy Award.