Kiubon Kokko

Kiubon is most comfortable in an economy-class airplane seat, with his knees touching the back of his neighbor's chair.

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, Kiubon wanted nothing more than to leave. So, he did.

After attending Claremont McKenna College in California, Kiubon spent nine months in the Sierra Mountains and four months on a hitchhiking adventure across Europe. He then moved to Hong Kong to unearth his roots, learn his mother tongue, and find home.

Now, Kiubon fundraises his salary, supports missionaries across Asia, makes movies, and tries not to let the wet market ladies scam him while buying cabbage. He is using his $100,000 fellowship grant to reconcile his broken relationship with his father by creating a feature documentary about his father's seven-hour swim from communist China to Hong Kong in 1973 and its lasting effects on his family.