P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

Tiffanie is an award-winning filmmaker. As an MFA candidate at UCLA, she makes films that incorporate her unique outsider perspective and expand the breadth of the American experience represented in film. 

Tiffanie was born in Wisconsin to a mother who fled from civil war in China at the age of three and a Taiwanese father who overcame profound poverty to earn a doctorate in chemical engineering in the United States.

Tiffanie's fascination with narrative blossomed at Harvard University where she directed several films, one of which, "Three Beauties", was awarded the prestigious Thomas T. Hoopes Prize. After Harvard, Tiffanie worked closely with director Ang Lee for three years on "Life of Pi". Tiffanie has also worked extensively with Leehom Wang, a popular musician in Asia.

Upon returning to the United States, Tiffanie wrote and directed "Sutures" in the American Film Institute Directing Workshop for Women (AFI-DWW), a highly selective program committed to mentoring female directors. "Sutures" has played in several festivals and garnered awards including the "Excellence in Short Filmmaking Award" at the Asian American International Film Festival and the Jean Picker Firstenberg Award in the AFI-DWW Showcase. The short continues its festival run through the end of 2015.

Her films strive to tell stories that show people overcoming their own isolation, coming at last to make strong human connections.