Sean Wang

Sean Wang (traditional Chinese: 王湘聖; born 1994 or 1995) is a Taiwanese-American film director.^[2] 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.^[3][4] It went on to be nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.^[5][6]

Sean Wang
Born	1994 or 1995 (age 30–31)[1]
Alma mater	University of Southern California (BFA)
Occupation	Film director
Years active	2020–present
Notable work	Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (2023) Dìdi (2024)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	王湘聖
Simplified Chinese	王湘圣
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wáng Xiāngshèng

His feature-length directorial debut, Dìdi, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award.^[7] Wang also won two Independent Spirit Awards for the film.^[8]

In June 2025, Wang was invited to join the Short Films Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[9]

Early life and education

Wang is from Fremont, California, and was raised in a Taiwanese American family.^[10] He attended and graduated from Irvington High School.^[11] 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.^[2] He participated in multiple Sundance Institute programs, including the director and screenwriter labs.^[2]

Filmography

• Still Here (2020)
• H.A.G.S. (2021)^[12]
• Sunday (2021)
• Dumbfoundead: Secret Menu (2022)
• Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (2023)
• Dìdi (2024)

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	2024	Best Documentary Short Film	Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó	Nominated	[5]
AFI Fest	2023	Grand Jury Prize – Documentary Short		Won	[13]
Austin Film Critics Association	2025	Best First Film	Dìdi	Nominated	[14]
CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival	2024	Adolph Zukor Prize		Won	[15]
Directors Guild of America Awards	2025	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film		Nominated	[16]
Filmfest München	2024	CineKindl Audience Award		Won	[17]
Hollywood Creative Alliance	2024	Best First Feature		Nominated	[18]
Independent Spirit Awards	2025	Best First Feature		Won	[8]
		Best First Screenplay		Won
International Documentary Association	2023	Best Short Documentary	Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó	Nominated	[19]
San Diego Film Critics Society	2024	Best First Feature	Dìdi	Runner-up	[20]
Seattle International Film Festival	2023	Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize	Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó	Won	[21]
South by Southwest	2023	Grand Jury Award – Documentary Short Competition		Won	[3]
		Audience Award		Won	[4]
Sundance Film Festival	2024	Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic	Dìdi	Won	[22]
	2025	Vanguard Award for Fiction	—	Honored	[23]