Who We Are

Christian Oh

Board President

A lover of all types of production, Christian Oh is known for his involvement with local and national expos, conventions, galas, and large-scale events. Involved with the film festival for nearly two decades, he was also the co-founder and Executive Director of Kollaboration DC, an Asian American Talent competition in the DC metro area. He has been a panelist, moderator, and a professional emcee for many Asian American Media and Arts events and is a former adjunct professor for the Asian American Studies program at University of Maryland.

Christian has produced and directed many award-winning shorts, music videos, commercials, and public service announcements. He received his film background education from George Washington University Documentary Center, internships with Adobe at both the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals and on-hands experience with Sundance and Tribeca.

Renee Tsao

Board Vice President, Chief of Marketing and External Communications

Renée is Vice President of PR Collaborative and oversees publicity and marketing campaigns for independent films and documentaries, and specializes in films with social and political themes. Renée marries her deep background in the news media with her film savvy to position films for cineastes and thought-leaders in politics, policy and social justice alike. Renée has worked on some of the most successful and influential documentaries of the last decade including AMERICAN FACTORY, RBG, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, CITIZENFOUR, BLACKFISH, THE ACT OF KILLING, THE LOOK OF SILENCE, ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL, among many others; and collaborated with an array of celebrated filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Werner Herzog, Alex Gibney, Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar, Matthew Heineman, Raoul Peck, Joshua Oppenheimer, Steve James, Sebastian Junger, Dawn Porter, Joe Berlinger, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.

Wayne Hwang

Board Member, Director of Programming

Wayne Huang is a lifelong linguaphile and cinéaste who has watched thousands of films from all over the globe. His involvement with APA Film began as a volunteer photographer in 2006. In 2020 he joined both the programming committee and the board and in 2022 he was named the Director of Programming. Wayne is a computer programmer by day and his technical abilities are invaluable assets in ensuring that our films exhibit as excellently as possible. Wayne enjoys photography, Jeopardy!, traveling and learning new languages. He is hard at work expanding his capacity to watch films in as many languages as possible – without subtitles!

Peter Tzeng

Board Member, Volunteer Manager

Peter is excited to be joining the DC APA Film Board as a new member for the 2023 Festival! He currently works at the Motion Picture Association in the Department of Federal Government Affairs; a perfect intersection of his interests in politics, music, film and television – all things pop culture. He spends his extra time volunteering with Rural Dog Rescue as their Events Coordinator and taking classes/performing with the Washington Improv Theater. You can catch him around DC attending a concert, at a local book club, or walking with his dog in search of a good bagel and slice of pizza.

Melissa Bisagni

Festival Director

Melissa Bisagni is a film curator, consultant and festival programmer specializing in Indigenous and Asian American film. She is currently the Festival Director for the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, a member of the Four Quarters Collective along with Nzingha Kendall, Joanna Raczynska and KJ Mohr and a contributing partner in the Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival Organizers Collaborative. She served for 15 years as the Film and Video Program Manager at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, where she continues to work in Museum Learning and Programs. Melissa’s other passion, education equity, has given her the opportunity to work with other parents and community leaders advocating for children in the DC public school system through district-wide Head Start, Kindred Communities and DC PAVE.

Anavic Ibañez Canlas

Director of Operations

Anavic’s deep love and support for Asian American Pacific Islander events, arts, and organizations runs deep in her veins as a Filipino-Chinese-Spanish American who grew up in American Samoa and Hawai’i since the age of one. She is a published author, writer and an award-winning newspaper layout editor. With a background in journalism and interior design, she finds the behind-the-scenes production, costume and set design/movie locations to be the most fascinating part of filmmaking. Ultimately, she found herself in event management, where she now shares her passion for providing immersive experiences and entertainment to the DMV area. She’s excited to be a part of the DC APA team, as it continues its mission to give Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islanders a platform to shine their creative light.