Film director dies at 23: ‘Her voice, talent and vision will remain with us’
Lai Yuqing, who wrote and directed the queer love film " Whisperings of the Moon ," has died. She was 23.
Nimbus Films and Inwave Films, which backed the movie alongside Mirage Films, announced the director's death in a statement posted to social media Wednesday, Jan. 7.
"We are deeply saddened to share the tragic news that filmmaker Lai Yuqing, writer-director of 'Whisperings of the Moon', with whom we had the privilege of working, passed away on January 2, 2026 (Cambodia time), at the age of 23," the statement reads.
"We will continue to support and honor Lai Yuqing's work, so that her films may be seen and remembered," it continued. "Her voice, talent, and vision will remain with us. Rest in peace, Yuqing."
In their full statement to Variety , Nimbus Films and Inwave Films said Yuqing died "due to an incident on Dec. 30, 2025."
VnExpress.net reported the young director died after sustaining critical injuries from a fall in a three-story private residence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
"The case is still under investigation and her family is at Phnom Penh preparing her funeral as well as working closely with local authorities," the film company told Variety. "Details of the incident haven't been released yet but her family will make an official announcement once the case is resolved."
Yuqing was born in Tianjin, China and studied in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, Variety reported.
"Whisperings of the Moon," which was her debut film, follows theater actor Nisay as she moves from New York back to her home in Phnom Penh following her father's death. It is there that Nisay runs into her former lover, Thida. The film moves back and forth between the past and the present, which is seven years since the two were lovers.
"Whisperings of the Moon" was selected for the 30th Busan International Film Festival in 2025, Variety reported. First-time actors Sopheanith Thong and Deka Nine, whom Yuqing met while working with students at Cambodia's Acting Art Academy, starred in the film.
Yuqing's earlier work included the short films "Two Suns" (2024) and "Love Is a Book" (2024), Variety noted.
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