Yu is the writer/director/producer of one feature film, over ten short films, seven performed one-act plays/ monologues, and three Arts and Technology performances, -- as well as of various published narrative essays, poems, and photographs. (Please see the  The Movies , Arts and Technology, and Awards & Honors pages for some of the works Yu has done and awards she has received.)

Yu has finished the filming of her very first feature film, "Aura, IL." It is currently in post-production. The earlier draft of the script was a semi-finalist at the Moondance International Film Festival.

Native of Kyoto, Japan, Yu came to the United State at age 18. She  has received BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.Ed. from Harvard University (where she was the student commencement speaker -- first Japanese student ever to speak at Harvard's commencement), and completed M.F.A. in Film Production from University of Southern California.

Crystal's Sigh, which she produced/wrote/directed/edited/composed the songs for, won CINE Golden Eagle Award (2006). Mil k and H oney , which she produced with Sherr y Be ckman, won Pixie Awards and CINE Eagle Awards. It also went to various festivals. PuRoMiSu , which Yu wrote and directed won Best Picture at the Illini Film and Video festival and went to festivals such as John's Hopkins Film Festival, Texas Film Festival, and Big Muddy Film Festival;  TIME , a collection of essays, won Robert Boit Manuscript Prize (1st place); When Yoshimi Gets Married , a one-act play she wrote, won Richard Rudy Memorial Grant and has been produced in Boston and Los Angeles.  Her feature script, Ai Yamahiro , won Moondance Gaia Award. (An early draft of "Ai Yamahiro" won Honorable Mention at the 71st Writer's Digest Writing Competition.)

Yu's additional interests include projects that tie arts and technology together. For example, the narrative use of three-dimensional audio and visual imaging and display technology; The combined use of Motion Capture Technology, internet, and dance; Etc. Her Hummingbird , an art-tech performance which was performed in Illinois and Los Angeles, was an official selection of SIGGRAPH2003. <http://www.siggraph.org/artdesign/gallery/S03/video/0459.html> To watch the video, go to: <http://www.siggraph.org/artdesign/gallery/S03/video/0459a.html>

Yu is also interested in spreading computer education world-wide. While at MIT, she co-founded a charitable program called International Development of Computer Education ( IDCE) which has donated a total of more than 3000 computers and 26 weeks of computer instruction to rural schools in over ten countries around the world. She and the program have been awarded by various organizations/people, including Ministry of Education in Thailand,  Ministry of Education in Ghana, and princess of Thailand. On October 6, 2006, the IDCE program will receive an award from  United Nations.  (Please see: http://www.IDCE-world.org)

After "Aura, IL," Yu hopes to produce another feature film in the cornfields before producting Ai Yamahiro , which has been supported a great deal by her mentor, Roger Christiansen, who is a TV director for programs such as "Suddenly Susan", "For Your Love", "Friends, " and " Hannah Montana."

After making these three films, Yu plans to focus on children's videos and books.

Here are some of the news-paper and magazine articles about her and her projects:
N-G1 ; N-G2 ; N-G3; N-G4; LATimes1 ; USCNews1; Yomiuri1; Yomiuri2; Yomiuri3; Asahi1; Asahi2; Kyoto1; Kyoto2, Kyoto3; Weekly Josei Jishin1; Weekly Focus1; Nikkei1; Ghana Today1; China Mars1 ; (more to be up-dated)