Natalie Murao is a yonsei (fourth generation Japanese Canadian) filmmaker and educator from “Vancouver”*. Her work explores themes of generational disconnect, personal memory, and communication. She aims to expand the notion of Asian diasporic cinema by creating an “in-betweenness” of styles that embody the diaspora itself.

She received a BFA in Film Production from Simon Fraser University. Her graduating film, Floating Light (2017), went on to play at festivals such as the Asian American International Film Festival, Center for Asian American Media Festival, and Whistler Film Festival - where it won the ShortWork Student Award. Her most recent film, No More Parties (2020), was made with the help of the National Film Board of Canada’s Filmmaker Assistance Program and was one of seven films selected to represent Canada for Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent program at Clermont-Ferrand. It is now available to watch on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox as part of their Short Films, Big Ideas: Community Impact shelf.

Natalie is also a Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellow, VIFF Catalyst Mentee, and Programming Coordinator at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.

*unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories