Diane Paragas is a Filipina-American writer and director who focuses on experiences of marginalized groups in both documentary and narrative films. Her first documentary film Kabayan was released on PBS and explored the Filipino-American experience. She also produced for the Peabody Award and Emmy Award winning Egg the Arts Show, as well as programs for Bravo, BET, and CBS. Her most recent documentary Brooklyn Boheme, co-directed by Nelson George, celebrated the African-American art movement that launched the careers of Spike Lee, Chris Rock and Rosie Perez, to name a few. The film went on to win the Black Reel award for Best Television Documentary and premiered on Showtime. Paragas wrote and directed her debut narrative feature Yellow Rose, which stars Eva Noblezada and Lea Salonga and tells the story of a Filipina-American girl pursuing her country music dreams under threat of deportation. The film won over 13 grand jury and audience awards during its festival run. Yellow Rose was acquired by Sony Pictures and became the first Filipino-American film to be distributed theatrically by a major Hollywood studio. Paragas is also developing a pop music opera film entitled Lizards which follows the journey of a Filipina woman who has a magical lizard and becomes a guerrilla fighter in Japanese occupied Philippines during WWII. Paragas was selected for Goldhouse’s A100 List honoring the most impactful Asians along with director Bong Joon Ho, Lulu Wang and Taika Waititi.