Thai filmmaker Aditya Assarat joins the 2026 Asian Short Film Fund as mentor, alongside Oh Jung-Wan and Yeh Ju-Feng. With his extensive creative and producing experience, Aditya will be supporting shortlisted filmmakers and their short film projects from across Asia.

It is with regret that director Lav Diaz will no longer be part of the Asian Short Film Fund mentorship this year due to health reasons. Finalists and other details will be announced at a later date.

Aditya Assarat is a filmmaker from Thailand. His feature films include Hi-So (2001) and Wonderful Town (2007), which won the New Currents Award from Busan International Film Festival and the Tiger Award from International Film Festival Rotterdam. He also produced and co-directed Ten Years Thailand (2018), which premiered in Cannes. His latest film, The Thonglor Kids, is in post-production. Aditya has produced the films of other Thai directors such as Sivaroj Kongsakul’s Eternity (2010), which won the Tiger Award at Rotterdam; Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy (2013), which premiered in Venice; and Chonlasit Upanigkit’s W (2014), which premiered in Busan. Aditya is also the director of Purin Film Fund, which supports independent cinema in Southeast Asia.