meet Our Team

Renée Tsao

Board President, Chief of Marketing and External Communications

Renée Tsao 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 Huang

Board Member, Director of Technology

Wayne Huang is a lifelong linguaphile and cinéaste who has watched thousands of films from all over the globe. His involvement with DCAPAFF began as a volunteer photographer in 2006. In 2020 he joined both the programming committee and the board and served as the Director of Programming from 2022-2025. Wayne is a computer programmer by day whose technical abilities are invaluable assets in ensuring our films exhibit as expertly 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

Peter Tzeng 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 concerts, at local book clubs, or walking with his dog in search of a good bagel or slice of pizza.

Melissa Bisagni

Melissa Bisagni is a film curator, consultant and festival programmer specializing in Indigenous and Asian American film. Aside from her work with the DCAPAFF,  she is a member of the Four Quarters Collective along with Nzingha Kendall, Joanna Raczynska and KJ Mohr, on the Documentary Features team at BlackStar Film Festival and is 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.

Board Member, Festival Director

Anavic Ibañez Canlas

Anavic’s unbending passion and support for Asian American Pacific Islander events, arts, and organizations run rich in her veins as a Filipino-Chinese-Spanish American born in the Philippines who since infancy, was raised in American Samoa and Hawai’i. 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 of production: costume and set design, and location scouting, to be the most fascinating parts of filmmaking. Finding herself in event management, she can now share her passion for immersive experiences and entertainment to all in the DMV area. She’s excited to be a part of the DCAPAFF team for another year as it continues its mission to give Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islanders a platform to shine their creative light.

Director of Operations

SANOBAR FAROOQUI

Volunteer Manager

Sanobar Farooqui is beyond excited to join the DC APA Film Festival team.  The heart of her life has been a deep engagement with diverse cultures. Born in New York, a visit to her ancestral home of Karachi, Pakistan in 1999 turned into nearly two-decades residency. This sudden immersion embedded a deep love & appreciation for the complexities of her own Asian heritage and global cultures. Sanobar brings this vital perspective to the festival, cultivating a volunteer team that champions authentic AANHPI storytelling.

Coming from a maternal lineage of classical dancers and painters, her own creative disciplines span writing poetry, playing electric guitar, and photography. She is also known to nurture an extensive plant collection, sell at the Georgetown Flea Market and lift weights at her local gym (much to her mother’s chagrin).