Inspiring Asia 2025 Award Ceremony
The Inspiring Asia 2025 Award Ceremony, held at the National Gallery Singapore, marked the highlight of the festival’s Grand Finals—an evening dedicated to creativity with purpose. Co-hosted by Channel 8 Mediacorp’s Yang Zhenhua and Eileen Chong from the Asia Philanthropy Circle, both Semi-Final Judges of Inspiring Asia 2025, the event brought together filmmakers, social innovators, and mental health advocates from across Asia to celebrate storytelling, innovation, and social impact.
Before the ceremony began, guests watched a 45-minute showcase of selected films, whose heartfelt stories set an inspiring tone for the night.
Best Micro Film Award
The Best Micro Film Award recognises excellence in storytelling and cinematography, and was presented by Mr. Laurence Lien, Chairman and Founding CEO of Asia Philanthropy Circle, the platform where Inspiring Asia was first born.
After an intense round of judging in the morning among seven finalist films, For Paul My Baby emerged as the winner by telling a story of love and resilience.
For Paul, My Baby (Singapore)
Director: Christine Seow
The film follows Alicia, a mother who lost her son, Paul, to suicide in 2021. Through the support of her family and community, she gradually found strength and hope, turning her grief into a message for others — that no one should face pain alone.
The film received a USD 50,000 award to continue promoting open and compassionate dialogue about mental health. Director Christine Seow could not attend, so Alicia accepted the award on her behalf, delivering a moving speech that resonated deeply with the audience: “Reaching out for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.”
Each of the six finalists also received a USD 6,000 prize in recognition of their outstanding work.
Best Project Award
During the Grand Finals, representatives from the three shortlisted projects presented their work and responded to questions from a live panel of five expert judges consisting of leaders in academic, philanthropy, and social impact organisations.
As an Anchor Partner of Inspiring Asia and a strong supporter of youth mental health initiatives, it was most fitting that Ms. Liu Xin, Founder of the US-based Enlight Foundation, presented the Best Project Award.
In an unexpected twist, two projects were named co-winners, sharing a total grant of USD 100,000 to scale their impact:
When the Bench Hears (Thailand)
Project Bench With Ears
Turning public benches into “safe zones” for emotional support through mental health first aid training and the Sati app, creating accessible spaces for honest conversations.
Light Up (Mongolia)
Project Good Mind and Soul
Empowering peer supporters, under psychologist supervision, to reach youth facing loneliness and silence in a culture where mental health dialogue is still emerging.
Both projects impressed judges and audiences for bringing evidence-based solutions into accessible community spaces with strong potential to scale. The remaining finalists received USD 10,000 each.
Best AI Film Award
This year, Inspiring Asia partnered with the global AI technology leader MiniMax as an AI Innovation Partner to introduce the Best AI Film Award with a prize of USD 10,000. The award was presented by Ms. Sue Toomey, the CEO of Asia Community Foundation, one of the Platform Partners of Inspiring Asia.
The film explored the emotional depth of human experience through artificial intelligence — a striking demonstration of how technology can expand the boundaries of storytelling.
Winner: Ruins (China)
Creator: Li Yinqian
This year’s festival expanded across six countries, each supported by regional partners who brought Inspiring Asia’s vision to life in their own communities. The Regional Partnership Award was presented by Mr. Lionel Li, Founding Chairman of the Li Foundation and Co-founder of Inspiring Asia, to recognise outstanding contributions of organisations that crafted and implemented unique regional festivals in their respective regions.
- Cultural Ambassador Award: Lorinet Foundation (Mongolia)
- Excellence in Collaboration Award: Campaign for Good、Djarum Foundation 、Tanoto Foundation (Indonesia)
- Organisational Impact Award: China Global Philanthropy Institute (China)
- Outstanding Engagement Award: ECCA Family Foundation (Thailand)
- Youth Empowerment Award: Nguyen-Phuong Family Foundation (Vietnam)
- Voice of Storytelling Award: Mental Health Film Festival Singapore (Singapore)
- Vision of Tomorrow Award: MiniMax, Hailuo AI
