Sean Wang (; born 1994 or 1995) is a Taiwanese-American film director. His documentary short, Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, premiered at the 2023 South by Southwest, where it won both the Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award. It went on to be nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
His feature-length directorial debut, Dìdi, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Wang also won two Independent Spirit Awards for the film.
In June 2025, Wang was invited to join the Short Films Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Early life and education Wang is from Fremont, California, and was raised in a Taiwanese American family. He attended and graduated from Irvington High School. Afterwards, he attended film school at the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in film and video production in 2016, and worked for Google Creative Lab. He participated in multiple Sundance Institute programs, including the director and screenwriter labs.
Filmography Still Here (2020) H.A.G.S. (2021) Sunday (2021) Dumbfoundead: Secret Menu (2022) Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (2023) Dìdi (2024)
Awards and nominations Award Year Category Work Result Academy Awards 2024 Best Documentary Short Film Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó AFI Fest 2023 Grand Jury Prize – Documentary Short Austin Film Critics Association 2025 Best First Film Dìdi CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival 2024 Adolph Zukor Prize Directors Guild of America Awards 2025 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film Filmfest München 2024 CineKindl Audience Award Hollywood Creative Alliance 2024 Best First Feature Independent Spirit Awards 2025 Best First Feature Best First Screenplay International Documentary Association 2023 Best Short Documentary Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó San Diego Film Critics Society 2024 Best First Feature Dìdi Seattle International Film Festival 2023 Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó South by Southwest 2023 Grand Jury Award – Documentary Short Competition Audience Award Sundance Film Festival 2024 Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic Dìdi 2025 Vanguard Award for Fiction
References
External links
Sean Wang's personal website