Joanna Zhang _Founder & President
General Producer, Film Director, Actress & Artistic Director
Joanna Zhang is the Founder & President of both the American Art Institute and the San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival. She has devoted her long-term dedication to several nonprofit organizations over twenty years. She has led her non-profit organizations working hard to promote Chinese traditional culture and contributed a lot to develop friendship between America and China. Joanna won the 2023 “US President’s Volunteer Service Award”. She was selected the “Model Mother” of Northern California in 2017. In 2024 & 2025, she was elected as the president of the Chinese Consolidated Women’s Association, a long-established_27 years’ history, women’s organization in San Francisco.
Graduated from China, Jiangxi University with a BA Literature Degree; came to United States, graduated from the Academy of Art University with an MFA Degree in Motion Pictures and Television in Film Directing & Producing as well as from Lincoln University with an MBA Degree in International Business Administration.
She directed, wrote and produced many short films, among them, “Chinese American”, “Sweet Kiss” and “Beautiful Face” won Best Short-Film, Best Leading Actress, Best Director and Best Producer awards in several film festivals.
She is the successful Executive Producer and main actress in numerous dramas, comedies and musical productions, such as: Comedy “7-Star General”, Black Humor “Yin and Yang”, Musical “It is Too Much Trouble to Change Your Wife”, Tragedy “New Blue and Black”, Post Modern Black Humor “Secret Love on Peach Blossom Land” and Musical Drama “I Have a Date with Spring”, Modern drama “Where am I”, “Love in Silicon Valley”, etc. She also held acting training programs for several years. Her performances include classic drama clips “Thunderstorm”, “Wild Field”, “Joy Luck Club”, etc. The Drama skit “Marriage Registration” starring her won the championship of the North American Skit Competition, and the group was invited to CCTV as the only overseas representative to participate in the first CCTV “Go to the Spring Festival Gala” program. This award-winning skit was broadcast many times on various channels of CCTV that year.
Shelley Lee
Active Vice President Of SFINCFF. Founder of Cambridge Travel & Tours, Acting VP of San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival. Honorable President of American Chinese Cultural and Arts Association. 2011Diamond Qipao Queen! Chair Person of 2015-2022 Qipao Queen Contest.
Elizabeth Nguyen
SFINCFF Vice President and Public Relations Director
Elizabeth Nguyen has been the Vice President and Public Relation Director for San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival for over 10 years. Besides her profession as a San Francisco Realtor for over 20 years, she also does public relation promotions: she represents Music and Film Celebrities, Entertainment Artists and Martial Artists. She is also actively involved in hosting and organizing fashion shows, beauty pageant competitions, professional business mixers, charity functions, fundraising events, traditional cultural shows, community meetings and sport competition events. She is holding the Global Beauty Queen Title, 2021 Mrs North America Classique. Elizabeth has been given many recognition awards for her community service. It is her honor to serve as Vice President and Public Relation Director for the San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival.
Tina Kong
SFINCFF Vice President, Film Director and producer
In 1980, she participated in the production of the film “Anxious to Return” of Bayi Film Studio, and “Tonight Stars”. In 1981, she participated in the production of the film “Contemporaries”. In 1982, she directed as well as edited “Dragon and the Tigers”. In 1983, she was the Production Supervisor of the film “Heaven’s Enmity”. She is also in the production of the movie “Lost Childhood Memories” in 1984, “Fake Face” in 1985, “Savage” in 1986, “2008 Passenger Plane” in 1987. She directed and produced the music film “Moon Light”. She participated in the TV series production of “The Corrupt Official He Shen”, “A Tao”, “Eight Monsters of Yangzhou”, etc. Since arriving in the United States, she has planned, produced, and directed numerous community cultural events.
Linda Wang
SFINCFF Vice President and PR Director & Entertainment Director
A renowned food and film critic, and a graduate of Tsinghua University. She began publishing articles in newspapers and magazines during her high school years. Her works have appeared in traditional media such as the 《Beijing Evening News》, 《Beijing Youth Daily》, 《World Journal》, and 《Sing Tao Daily》, and have won numerous awards in radio and television writing competitions. She is a contributing writer for several fashion and health publications, and her works have been included in books such as 《Black and White》 (collected by the Harvard Library), 《Silicon Valley Life》, and 《Stars in Other Lands》. She has published personal collections: 《Delicious Life》 (collected by the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature) and 《The Big Bang Theory》 (collected by the San Francisco Public Library). She has approximately 2 million followers on Sina Weibo and has repeatedly ranked among the top three most active Weibo accounts in North America. She has been a guest on radio, online media, and television. She was featured in a personal segment, 《Bingqing’s Delicious Life》, for the CCTV documentary 《Ginseng》 on CCTV4’s “Overseas Chinese” program. She has been interviewed by China Radio International, with broadcasts reaching over 300 countries and regions worldwide. She has also hosted science programs on Phoenix TV. She served as the head judge for the Silicon Valley International Food Festival. Producer of CITIC Legal Science Popularization Short Videos.
