Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan Receives the 2026 Angénieux Special Encouragement at Cannes Film Festival

As Angénieux continues its long-standing commitment to celebrating both the legends and the future of cinematography, this year’s Angénieux Special Encouragement will be awarded to Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan, a young Vietnamese director of photography whose work is already helping shape a new chapter in contemporary Vietnamese cinema. Presented each year during the Pierre Angénieux Tribute ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival, the Angénieux Special Encouragement honors the promising work of an emerging cinematographer. Since 2018, the distinction has supported young cinematographers by offering access to Angénieux technology for a future creative project. In 2026, Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan will receive this special endowment during the evening dedicated to Akiko AshizawaJ.S.C., the recipient of the Pierre Angénieux Tribute 2026, on Friday, May 22, at the Buñuel Theatre, Palais des Festivals.

 

A New Voice in Vietnamese Cinema

Born in 1996, Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan belongs to a new generation of Vietnamese filmmakers seeking to redefine the contours of a national cinema that is both deeply rooted in its heritage and open to the world. A cinematographer, director, and screenwriter, she has established herself in just a few years as a distinctive and promising figure in the Vietnamese audiovisual landscape. Her work has already been screened at major international festivals, including the Berlinale, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, and the Busan International Film Festival. Coming from a family deeply rooted in artistic and intellectual circles, Linh Đan developed an early sensitivity to visual arts, languages, and storytelling. Educated in a French-speaking environment in Hanoi, she acquired proficiency in both French and English, a multicultural foundation that later helped her navigate international contexts with ease. This international perspective has shaped her understanding of cinema as a universal language, one capable of transcending linguistic and cultural boundaries while remaining connected to personal memory, cultural identity, and emotional truth.

 

From Photography to Cinematography

Linh Đan’s artistic vision emerged early. During her teenage years, she distinguished herself in photography: at just sixteen, she appeared on the cover of Vogue, while one of her photographs was selected among the best images of Photo Vogue. Initially drawn to animation, she ultimately chose cinematography, a discipline that enabled her to blend painting, light, and visual storytelling. At eighteen, she enrolled at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she studied in a highly competitive environment and graduated with a BFA in Film & Television Production, with a minor in Studio Arts. Her years in the United States proved decisive in shaping her artistic identity. From creative restrictions, she learned to translate thought into metaphor and image. She became deeply interested in the silent language of cinema: body movement, framing, light, optics, and all the visual elements that tell a story before words are ever spoken. Her background in painting continues to influence her cinematography, giving her work a particular attention to color, light, texture, and atmosphere.

 

A Painterly Approach to Visual Storytelling

Linh Đan’s work is marked by a strong aesthetic sensibility and an instinctive understanding of how images can carry emotion. Her cinematography often reveals an almost painterly approach, using light, color, and atmosphere to translate inner states and narrative intentions. She first gained international visibility through short films, including Lost, which was presented at the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. In 2017, she co-wrote and shot Vô Diện, which received the Golden Kite Award from the Vietnam Cinema Association. Her feature work further confirmed her talent. In Secrets of the Wind by Phan Quang Binh Nguyen, her poetic imagery resonated with audiences and earned national recognition at the Asian Academy Creative Awards. In 2023, she became the first woman to win the Best Cinematography award for a feature film at the Vietnam Film Festival for Cô gái từ quá khứ (The Girl from the Past) by Bảo Nhân and Nam Cito. In 2024, Cu Li Never Cries, directed by Phạm Ngọc Lân and shot by Linh Đan, won the GWFF Best First Feature Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, further confirming her place among the rising voices of international cinema.

 

A Filmmaker Across Disciplines

Alongside her work as a cinematographer, Linh Đan has continued to develop her own projects as a writer and director. Her short film Children of the Dust reflects her interest in sensitive narratives centered on childhood, memory, and individual life paths. Her first independent feature film, If Wood Could Cry, It Would Cry Blood, inspired by Mạc Can’s novel, is set in the world of a circus troupe in 1950s Vietnam. The project explores themes that are central to her work: childhood, memory, identity, and the fragile boundary between poetry and realism. The film has already received significant international recognition. It won the ArteKino Award at the Busan International Film Festival in 2021 and was selected for La Fabrique at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, becoming the only Southeast Asian project chosen that year. Through her work as a DP, director, and screenwriter, Linh Đan has developed a personal visual language that is both culturally grounded and internationally resonant.

 

Supporting the Next Generation of Cinematographers

Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan succeeds a growing lineage of emerging international talents supported by Angénieux, including Eunsoo Cho from South Korea in 2025, Kadri Koop from Estonia in 2024, Haya Khairat from Egypt in 2023, Evelin van Rei from the Netherlands in 2022, Pamela Albarrán from Mexico in 2021, Modhura Palit from India in 2019, and  from China in 2018, the first filmmaker to receive the Angénieux grant at Cannes. By spotlighting Linh Đan, Angénieux continues its commitment to championing the next generation of cinematographers: artists whose images will shape the future of cinema across borders, cultures, and visual traditions.

 

Angénieux Special Encouragement at Cannes Film Festival 2026

The Angénieux Special Encouragement will be presented to Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan during the Pierre Angénieux Tribute evening honoring Akiko Ashizawa J.S.C., on Friday, May 22, 2026, at the Buñuel Theatre, Palais des Festivals. As part of this recognition, Linh Đan will benefit from Angénieux’s support throughout the year and will have access to Angénieux technology for the images of her next project. For the latest news, follow us on Instagram or subscribe to our newsletter below.    

Photo of Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan © Vu Nguyen. All Rights Reserved.