Yoko Yamanaka was born in 1997 in Nagano Prefecture. After dropping out of Nihon University‘s College of Art, she self-taught herself and produced her directorial debut work Amiko, which won the Audience Award at the Pia Film Festival 2017. The following year, at the age of 20, she saw Amiko selected for the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the youngest director ever invited and setting a record as the youngest feature film director at the festival. The film has been screened in over 10 cities and countries including Hong Kong and New York. Her directorial works include Anytime, Anywhere, which is a part of the omnibus film 21 seiki no onna no ko (2019) produced by Ū-ki Yamato, and Uoza-doshi (2020) as part of the ndjc program.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
