Katia Houde

Katia Houde is a filmmaker and video & sound installation artist from Montreal living in Toronto. Her work deals primarily with memory, identity, and trauma using both found footage and original images. Her work has shown in the USA, Canada, Spain, Mexico, and Peru. She is currently on the board of directors at the8fest, a programmer with Ad Hoc, and a former board member of aluCine Latin Film Festival. She is currently pursuing a PhD in cinema and media studies at York University.

Ned Daly

Boston-born filmmaker Ned Daly has made found footage works, a mockumentary, an architectural study and several semi-abstract films. His directing career only began after retiring as a city planner and real estate consultant. Ned is a member of the Boston chapter of the National Writers Union (AFL-CIO)

He was trained as a stage actor in Massachusetts. As a film/television actor he has worked with directors Alan Arkush, Miklos Gyulai and more recently with Morten Tyldum and Greta Gerwig. His earlier films, Pastiche Vol 1 No1 (2014), Why We Went to the Moon (2016), Abang Aku (2018), The Closer You Look (2020), Four Questions (2022) and WET (2023) have played to appreciative audiences at scores of film festivals worldwide.

In 2016 he was awarded Third Prize at the 2016 Bed-Stuy Popup! Cinema Festival for Why We Went to the Moon. In 2018 he was named Best Newcomer at the Borobudur International Film Festival in Indonesia (Abang Aku). In 2021 he won the award for Best Cinematography at the French International Film Festival (The Closer You Look). His 2023 film, WET, has screened at festivals in ten countries and won Best Super-short Experimental Film at the 2023 AltFF Festival in Toronto.

Mauro John Capece

Film producer and director.
The international experience and the set have perfected the instinct in the choice of the productions to be undertaken.
He currently controls Evoque Art House, a company founded in 1996, focused on the production and co-production of genre films that follow the tradition of European cinema.
Evoque Art House’s productions have been sold and distributed (theatrical; television; V.o.d.) in the following countries: Italy; Canada; China; Japan; United States;
The films produced and directed by Mauro John Capece have been repeatedly selected and awarded by important national and international Film Festivals.

Stephen Rutterford

He is the writer and director of “Finding Ophelia” a feature film Starring Jimmy Levar and Christina Chu, which garnered over 30+ International awards including The Cannes World International Film Festival, The London Independent Film Awards and The Los Angeles Film Awards.
Cutting his teeth in Advertising, Rutterford has collaborated with artists including Pharrell Williams, Michel Gondry, Talib Kweli, Shepard Fairey and Faile. He has directed music videos for Black Asteroid, Hana, Fashawn, The IZM, Just Process / Joannie Jimenez, Chris Stylez, and a short documentary featuring media installation artist Refik Andadol.
Rutterford’s imagery has a strong graphic and yet dreamlike quality that is edgy and darkly absurd.
His work is influenced conceptually by Surrealism and the Avant garde and has been exhibited at The Museum of Art and Design New York and Embryo Gallery New York and Mexico City.

Jérémie ARNAUD

Jérémie began his career as a curator at the Clermont-Ferrand Documentary Film Festival, Traces de Vies. After completing his studies at the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) in France, he became a producer and joined the company Les Films de la Nuit.

In addition to his professional activities, he develops and hosts several podcasts.

DANIELLE JOHNSON

Co-Executive Producer/Co-Creator/ Screenwriter/Music/Social Media
Danielle Johnson is the founder of her own Music/Social Media company “deejayandcatsproduction”, a musician, mix engineer, music
producer, a Digital Media Content Creator for end-user/audience in specific contexts, and Co-Executive Producer/Co-Creator/ Screenwriter of her first scripted drama series known as Jillian’s Peak with her lifelong partner Charzette Torrence. She has been an advocate in the Industry for the diversity of African American women in screenwriting, music, television, and streaming. Their script, Jillian’s Peak, was officially selected in two major film
festivals in 2018 in N.Y. and LA and vote one of the top 10 scripts in 2019 for
the LGBTQ Toronto Film Festival. She is a member of NYWIFT, IFP, and SAG-AFTRA New Media Project. Danielle and her partner have been casting, screening,
review rating, and voting on films for IFC New York, LA, and the Gotham Awards
for the past six years. This spring, they will be filming a short trailer for Jillian’s Peak with a well-known African American female producer making her directorial debut. They are the newest upcoming creators of content for streaming and television media. https://www.deejayandcatsproduction.com/

Shizico Yi

Shizico Yi is an award winning documentary filmmaker, she holds PhD in Fine Art. She is also a painter and installation artist; the Curator and Editor of No Barking aRt , a non-profit art organization based in London supporting independent artists and filmmakers worldwide.

Michael Marco

Michael Marco was born Michaël Joseph Raymond Marco, in Toulon, France. The son of Lyna Pont, a French Navy employee and François Marco, a talented carpenter. His parents are both from Spanish decent.

Marco got bit by the acting bug at an early age while performing in a summer camp play.

He grew up watching American and French classics such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), The Great Escape (1963), Le Samouraï (1967), The Night Caller (1975), The Towering Inferno (1974), Death Wish (1974), Dirty Harry (1971), Buffet Froid (1979), and the list goes on and on…

In the ’80s, Marco was lucky to have found a video group in the little town he grew up in, who took a few kids under their wing and gave them proper training in production and post-production. They let the teenagers borrow the equipment and taught them how to work a Umatic editing bench. They started writing and shooting short films.

Marco ended the last year of junior high by acting in the short play “Edouard et Agrippine” de René de Obaldia, a story written with three characters and one location. It was just enough for the acting bug to permanently sink its teeth into him.

When Marco moved to Dallas, Texas in 1993, it was inevitable that he would get into the film and TV business.

Today Marco lives in Connecticut with his wife Jennifer. He is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, a seasoned editor and a passionate actor… who now produces as well.

Cedric van Eenoo

Cedric van Eenoo is a filmmaker, musician, artist and scholar affiliated with Brooklyn Arts Council, Manhattan Graphics Center and New York City Filmmakers’ Cooperative.

CHARZETTE TORRENCE
as a Memory

CHARZETTE TORRENCE 
Co-Executive Producer/Co-Creator/ Screenwriter/Fine Art Photographer
Charzette Torrence has always been a spokeswoman for making a change in diversity
in the photography, film and television industry. The project Jillian’s Peak which is an episodic drama series made for television and streaming with her Domestic Partner Danielle Johnson. Jillian’s Peak script was officially selected in two major film festivals in 2018 in N.Y .and LA, and voted as one of the top 10 scripts in 2019 for the LGBTQ Toronto Film Festival. She is a member of NYWIFT, IFC, and SAG-AFTRA New Media Project. Charzette and her partner Danielle have both been casting, screening, review, rating, and voting on films for
IFP New York, LA, and the Gotham Awards for the past six years. This spring they will be filming a short trailer for Jillian’s Peak with a well-known African American female producer making her directorial debut. They are the newest upcoming creators of content for streaming and television media.
https://jillianspeak.com/

Chun Chun Chang

Chun Chun Chang is a motion designer at Turner Duckworth and an independent filmmaker. She holds a Master’s degree in Animation from the School of Cinematic Arts at USC. Her short films Aura and Between the Shadows have been selected by multiple Oscar-qualifying festivals, including LA Shorts Fest, Encounters Film Festival, and Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Fueled by her passion for animation, she has worked across branding, commercials, and television series, bridging the worlds of advertising and entertainment.  

Lukas Berger

Lukas Berger is a photographer and film director. He worked on projects in Burkina Faso, China, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan and many European countries. He directed the short films Circus Debere Berhan (2016)Circus Movements (2019) and Wuqiao Circus (2020), which were screened at more than 200 international film festivals including Ann Arbor, Melbourne, Vienna, Tallin and Hongkong. Freed from its urban surroundings fascinating circus performances take place in Lukas Berger’s circus films. The camera stays static and great techniques of stilt runners, jugglers and acrobats are being shown in uncut scenes. His artistic work evolved from a documentary photographic background und his big interest in the world and human beings is visible throughout. He has a university degree in photojournalism and is a M.A in Documentary Film Directing (DocNomads).

Yanghuixiao Gao (Gaoyang)

US-based independent filmmaker, Yanghuixiao Gao (Gaoyang), has been honing her skills in fiction film directing, screenwriting, cinematography, and editing for the past ten years. She recently completed her Master’s Degree in Film and Media Art at Emerson College. Her works explore personal growth on a universal level and feminine sensibility. 

Her most recent narrative short film “What If” has earned recognition as an official selection of Oscar-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival and Directors Notes, and as a Semi-Finalist of Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. 

Her previous directing and cinematography projects have been selected by Asian Film Festival, Seattle Asian American Film Festival, Hollywood New Directors, LA Documentary Film Festival, New York City Independent Film Festival, and New York International Film Award. 

Pierparide Tedeschi

Pierparide Tedeschi is an Italian journalist, writer and filmmaker. Finalist at the national screenwriting award I Girasoli promoted by the Cultural association Cesare Zavattini with the short film Una storia così, he was assistant director of Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan. He wrote and shot the video Arte in villa (Gori collection in Pistoia) for Condé Nast Editions and he directed Beuys frames. The film it was presented on 2014 at New York City Independent Film Festival, at Buddhist Film Festival Europe 2015 in Amsterdam, at Kunsthaus in Zurich and in many Italian and international cultural institutions including Renzo Renzi Library of Cineteca in Bologna. He has been the curator of several exhibitions of contemporary art, photography, and set design.
He wrote Metamorphosis of a Life. Lucrezia De Domizio Durini:International art, culture, and society from the 70’s to the present (Rizzoli Electa, 2018).

Rob Lobosco

Rob Lobosco is a Melbourne based Actor, Comedian, Writer, Author, Filmmaker, Doctor of Chinese Medicine, Film Judge.

Rob has had various roles in Australian TV (Halifax FP, Frontline, Blue Heelers and Neighbours-playing Doug Marshall and the infamous role of Tom Jones). He has had appearances in the Australian films Amy, The Interview, The Zone.

He funded/produced his first feature film ‘Groomless Bride,’ playing one of the main roles – Adam.

He released his series of three books titled, ‘Heal yourself with my learning’s, his romantic novel, “In love with love-not him,” and his Dramedy novel, “Tough Lessons.”
Rob produced/wrote/directed/acted the comedy stage play called ‘Dress to Hide,’ (2010 International Comedy Festival) and in Feb/Mar 2012, the Italian stage play, ‘Due Paesi, Due Cuori.’ He also wrote ‘Due Paesi, Due Cuori,’ to a feature film that same year.

Rob wrote, produced, directed and plays identical twins, Tony and Lewis, in the film, ‘FATE – It is what it is!’ This film was an Officially Selected film at the 2013 New York City Independent Film Festival, 2014 World Film Awards (Jakarta), 2015 Mykonos Biennale Film Festival, Best shorts film festival, the Accolade Global film competition winning four awards.

Vittoria Becchetti

Vittoria Becchetti ,born 86‘, is a video artist and film director always ready to experiment in new fields. Active since she is seventeen, she begins to exhibit digital art works and then devote herself to video art. She has collaborated with important institutions such as Teatro della Pergola in Florence and known artists like Giacomo Costa. Her constant research for beauty and innovation led her to the world of the Immersive Art Expierence and fashion field ,working at The Fake Factory in Florence. In recent years her films have been obtaining numerous selections and international awards in festivals such as “New York City Independent Film Festival” 2021 Winner for the BEST EXPERIMENTAL / ART FILM, “Girona Film Festival 33edition”, “Rome Independent film award Prisma”, “European Cinematography Awards”, Amsterdam, “Big Apple Film Festival”, New York , “Canadian International Fashion Film Festival”,Toronto, “Porto Fashion Film Festival”,Guimaraes, “Berlin Commercial” and other . She is currently working on the production of new experimental films, developing the “I am |A|” project, which will not be destined to be just a film…

Vasilios Papaioannu

Vasilios Papaioannu is a filmmaker, photographer and mixed media artist currently based in Washington, DC. In his work Papaioannu explores the fleeting dreamscapes of reality using noise, movement and disturbance. He hybridizes different modes of filmmaking, unifying variegated media, primarily 16mm film, digital video and archival footage. His works have been shown in various venues around the world, such as Crossroads at SFMOMA, Anthology Film Archives, Athens International Film + Video Festival, Cork International Film Festival, Festifreak, Analogica, Cámara Lúcida, Engauge Film Festival, EXiS, L’ Alternativa, Antimatter [media art], Montreal Underground Film Festival, Revelation Perth Film Festival and Sharjah Film Platform. Papaioannu holds an MA in Communication, Text Semiotics and Cinema from the University of Siena in Italy and an MFA in Film and Cinematography from Syracuse University in New York. Papaioannu is currently an Assistant Professor at the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, Department of Media, Journalism, and Film at Howard University.

Yingtong Li

 Yingtong Li is an active writer-director. She holds a Master of Fine art degree in Film and Media art.
 
        Believing in “The most personal is the most universal”, Yingtong’s work focuses on personal stories of people who live on the margins of society. Through narrative and documentary, she likes to convey subtle, delicate and understated emotion through sounds and images.

      In 2022, her latest narrative short film The Silent WhistleFENG ZHENG) was premiered at the 75th Cannes film festival and selected for a bunch of Oscar-Qualifying and Bafta-qualifying film festivals.

Saskia Filoteia Yland-Noaghiul

Saskia Filoteia Yland-Noaghiul is a student filmmaker who studied documentary filmmaking at the New York Film Academy and is now pursuing a BA(Hons) degree in Film Production at the MetFilm School in Berlin. She is focused on cinematography and documentary filmmaking, specifically portrait documentaries capturing individuals and their stories immigrating to New York. She recently finished a short documentary ‘Layers’ which is in selection to be included in the New York Times Op-Docs. 

Enrico Lambiase

Enrico began his career in 2001 and has held various roles, including director, motion designer, VFX artist, and concept artist for feature films, TV episodic, digital, and broadcast. His credits include Harry PotterThe Dark KnightSpider-Man, and Men in Black, and he has also directed idents for MTV and Sony.

In his spare time, Enrico enjoys creating experimental videos, exploring technology, motion control, macro photography, old lenses, CT scans, and CGI.

His personal and commercial projects have won awards and have been featured in publications such as Shots, Televisual, IdN Magazine, and Computer Arts.

He currently lives and works in London.

Sophie Worm

Sophie Worm has been telling stories to whoever will listen for a very long time. Her professional career began in New York and her credits include a wide variety of commercials, music videos, films and series, including most recently; Hulu’s Up Early Tonight, Netflix’s Homecoming and Amazon’s FreeMeek. She is the proud owner of ‘More Than 7 Productions’, where she truly hopes to make more than 7 films. Her latest short film “The Art Assistant” won ‘best director’ at the Atlanta Comedy Film Festival and ‘best super short’ at the New York City Indie Film Fest. 

Gaetano Nino Campolongo

Gaetano (“Nino”) Campolongo is a 1st AC/Focus Puller and Camera Operator with over 10 years of worldwide experience, currently based between Frankfurt and New York.  

He has a strong knowledge of industry-standard equipment and cameras like Arri, Sony, and Red. 

Has worked on a variety of TV shows, feature films and commercials”

Siti Lu

Siti Lu is an animation director, storyboard artist and animator from Los Angeles. After graduation character animation program from CalArts in 2021. She is been working as a storyboard artist at Cartoon Network and Netflix Animation. She is also part of the judge committee for the 48th Emmy award. 

CHAN, Chitman (陳哲民)

CHAN, Chitman (aka Lester) is a seasoned actor and theatre director, prior to making his film directorial debut, APART《散後》, which won Champion in the 2nd First Feature Film Initiative (Professional Group) competition in Hong Kong. APART was selected for competition in the 15th Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020, and the 12th New York City Independent Film Festival 2021.

As actor, Chitman appears on screen and stage in U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China. His memorable performance as Frank the father in the Canadian film EVE AND THE FIRE HORSE won him a Best Supporting Actor Nomination in the 27th Genie Awards of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. He played the Bohemian lover, Raymond, in the Oscar-nominated Taiwanese film EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN《飲食男女》, and served as its acting coach. His American film debut COMBINATION PLATTER《拼盤》in which he starred as Sam the waiter won a FIPRESCI (the International Federation of Film Critics) Prize in the 18th Toronto International Film Festival. His TV drama debut in Hong Kong as Jeff the architect in Glass Wall《玻璃牆》 of Radio Television Hong Kong won a Silver Award in the 17th International Disability Drama Film Festival. His co-produced film Cure《金不換》also won a Best Asia-Middle East Film Nomination in the 24th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Katie Lemon

Katie Lemon is a filmmaker from Austin, TX based in New Jersey. She graduated from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television with an MFA in Production/Directing and is passionate about telling stories that explore family dynamics and personal identity, with a focus on female characters. Her film Gail won Best Student Film at the Rockport Film Festival and was nominated for Best Student Film at the Iowa Independent Film Festival and Burbank International Film Festival. Katie’s latest short film Sparklers has begun its festival run and is premiering at the 2025 Garden State Film Festival. Her character-focused approach to storytelling has extended into the commercial space, where she has directed advertising campaigns for brands including Dell.

Esteban Celi

Ecuadorian filmmaker, designer, researcher, musician, and collector. He holds a
Bachelor’s degree in Film and Television and has participated in independent
film festivals since 2004 in the short film category. Since 2007, he has worked
as a university professor and, since 2016, as a researcher, with indexed
publications in platforms such as Scielo, Scopus, and Web of Science.
In 2016, he earned a Master’s degree in Arts from Jaume I University in
Spain, and in 2023, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Palermo
(Argentina) with a dissertation on film poster design, based on the work of
Ecuadorian designer James Verdesoto, creator of the iconic Pulp Fiction
poster by Quentin Tarantino.
For a decade, he has contributed to the New York Independent Film Festival,
evaluating films from around the world. In the music field, he premiered his first
musical landscape concert in 2021 on Dance Television (500k followers) with
his project Ten Afternoon. You can watch the performance here: https://
youtu.be/hCLvUlBkpy0?si=iJCN-hYpgm2mdRG0.
An expert in film criticism, art direction, art history, film theory, and visual
semiotics, his passion for iconography has led him to explore the technical
and symbolic aspects of imagery across various media.

Vincent Veloso

Vincent Veloso is an Asian Filipino-American actor, model, multi-award winning: writer/producer/director, entrepreneur,17 instrument performing musician, martial artist (Kodokan judo, Tekken-ryu jujutsu, Nihon Goshin Aikido) & trained salsa ballroom dancer.

He acted alongside Sean Patrick Flannery, Michael Jai White & Mark Dacascos and did stuntwork in “Assault on VA-33″, now on The Roku Channel. He is Officer Stevens in the film “Equal Standard” (Amazon Prime) with Ice-T & Treach, and is the cartoon voice of Edward Chin in “Ethan Art Venture” on Amazon Prime and  KWELI TV,   

Vincent joined Snoop Dog, Haley Joel Osment, & the voice cast of the police drama podcast #MATTER on iheartradio  and also joined the voice cast of the Ambie award nominee “What Happened in Skinner?“, the thriller, mystery podcast featured as Spotify’s top 5 best new audio dramas.

Vincent wrote/produced/acted in & directed “Changelings“(Amazon Prime) with Catherine Curtin, Eric Roberts, Karlee Perez, Lauren Francesca, Jeffrey Gurian, Scott Churchson, Stormi Maya, Julia Maggio & Jacob Berger. He portrayed Officer Alvarez in the Daytime Emmy Nominated series “Doomsday” (Amazon Prime and Shudder), appeared in “Marvel’s Daredevil” (Netflix) UCLA professor Terrance Tao in the series “Math Warriors”, and the Maestro piano player in “The Comedian” with Robert Deniro & Harvey Keitel.

“Half Broods” by Vincent Veloso & Anthony Miller was the 2024 Page Turner Awards WINNER Best Screenplay: Paranormal & Supernatural genre.

“Downsized”  by Vincent Veloso & Anthony Miller was a 2024 Big Apple film festival & Screenplay Competition Honorable Mention, 2024 ReelHeART International Script Competition Quarterfinalist, FALL 2023 Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards Quarterfinalist

Additionally, “The Old Brood” by Vincent Veloso & Matt Meinsen was a 2024 Big Apple film festival & Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalist

SAGAFTRA / ASCAP / AFM 16-248

Christopher Rakas

Christopher Rakas is an El Paso, Texas based award winning director, producer, writer, and composer. His short film Dada Noise 2 has had a successful film festival run all over the world, including an official selection in the 2022 New York City Independent Film Festival. He is currently co-writing and scoring several episodes for the tv series On Bloody Paths with Mary S. Applegate and Ingmar Koch. He is also a member of the Liquid Sky Artist Collective in Portugal.

Esteban Garcia Vernaza

Esteban Garcia Vernaza is a Colombian Film Director with a strong interest in depicting the southwestern Colombian identity and its social issues through his films. Esteban’s Short Film “Silento” was an official selection at the 2020 Telluride Film Festival and was nominated for the “Macondo Awards” which are the Colombian Academy Awards. “Silento” also received the Grand Prize Student Film Award from the Directors Guild of America, as well as the Student Production Grant from The National Board of Review. Esteban directed the Colombian-Unit of the Chinese science fiction blockbuster film “The Wandering Earth II”.

Zilai Feng

Zilai Feng graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with an MFA in Animation in 2020 and from the Character Animation program at CalArts in 2017. Based in NorCal, she is currently a story artist at Pixar. Her personal short films, “Wedding on the Execution Ground”, “The Remedy”, “Sweater” and other films, have been selected and received awards in multiple international animation festivals such as Beijing Feinaki Animation Week, Anima Brussel, POFF Tallinn Black Nights and so no, and received a Vimeo Staff Pick.

Alexia Melocchi

Alexia Melocchi  is a highly accomplished entertainment industry professional with a proven track record of success in both the domestic and international arenas. A vital force behind the Little Studio Films brand, Alexia began her career in the 1990s in the international marketplace, serving as both a sales agent and buyer’s representative for eleven theatrical distributors.

As a P.G.A. producer with 30 credits, Alexia leverages her extensive network and expertise in screenplay development, IP packaging, co-productions, and U.S. and international distribution to bring her clients’ projects to fruition. A regular presence at major film and television markets and festivals around the globe, she continues to secure international acquisitions and adopts a global marketing approach for both client projects and her own productions under the Little Studio Films banner.

During her tenure as a sales agent, Alexia sold over 50 films on behalf of producers, turning profits for her clients, while acquiring more than 150 major studio and independent films for distributors in markets such as Italy, Greece, Latin America, Spain, France, the CIS, and the Middle East. She played a pivotal role in the acquisition of notable films including *PEPPERMINT*, *THE BOY 2*, *LA LA LAND*, *ANNA*, *NOW YOU SEE ME 2*, *BEAUTIFUL BOY*, *SHAUN THE SHEEP*, and more.

Fluent in French, Greek, Italian, and Spanish, Alexia is frequently invited to share her expertise as a panelist on the global entertainment industry. She has spoken at prestigious events such as ITTV, SEE FEST, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, North Hollywood Cinefest, three consecutive Cannes Film Festival panels (hosted by the PGA, Stage 32, and the Producers Network), and Women in Entertainment.

Alexia is also the author of the bestselling book “An Insider’s Secret: Mastering the Hollywood Path”, available worldwide on Amazon, which draws from her wealth of industry experience to offer guidance to aspiring entertainment professionals.

Malcolm Green

Malcolm Green is an international award-winning writer and director. Passionate about creating content that challenges, entertains and surprises, Malcolm makes highly creative, emotional, impactful and effective films, documentaries and commercials.. He is also dedicated to introducing audiences to those human stories that usually remain unseen or unheard.

Amongst his prizewinning films are ‘Finding Abraham’, ‘EDEK’, ’Pearls’, ‘The Bee Queen’, ‘SEFA’ and ‘The Salmon Sisters’.
Malcolm is currently developing a musical documentary in collaboration with young UK prisoners.

Malcolm Green is based in London UK. His recent work can be seen at LoveFromMalc.com

Patricia Bury Salier and Edward Salier

Patricia Bury Salier and Edward Salier are a wife/husband creative team who write, direct, and produce documentary shorts.  Their short films have been screened at film festivals domestically and internationally and have won numerous film festival awards:   Platinum Remi Award, Award for Excellence, Grand Prize Best Narrative Short, Certificate of Merit, Jury Award, Independent Spirit Award, Best Documentary Short, Best Romance Short, and Best Video Art.

Mariana Zarpellon

Mariana Zarpellon is a Brazilian anthropologist and documentary filmmaker based in Berlin. She started her work as a photographer in 2008 and has contributed to magazines and websites such as The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Le Monde, and Liberation, among others. Since then she has been part of the art collective Mucha Tinta and has collaborated with musicians and artists on various visual art projects.
 
The shift to documentary making started in academia, where ethnographic research and cultural studies have influenced her filmmaking process. Her last projects Hilary (2021) and Ranch (2021), have both been screened and awarded in international festivals. She holds an MA in Ethnographic and Documentary Film.

Wayne Yu

Wayne Yu is an award-winning director, writer, and DP based in Boston. He has worked extensively in the field of short films, many of which dealt with social issues and marginalized communities. His most recent short film, Breathless (2021), was a finalist at the USA Film Festival and received the Boston International Film Festival’s award for best cinematography.

Leann Barna

Leann Barna is an award-winning screenwriter, story analyst for Disney, film festival programmer, and instructor at Transformation Film Institute. She holds an M.A. in Cinema/Screenwriting and in Biblical Studies. Leann owns Mining Company Media, which helps screenwriters tell their best stories and takes on select production projects. 

SangJin Ko

SangJin Ko is an Award-winning film director, screenwriter, and producer from Seoul, Korea.

His films have been selected for more than 130 Film Festivals over 23 countries around the world.

He majored in law at the university and performed military service in South Korea.cThen, he decided to follow his dream and moved to the United States to study filmmaking.  After he completed Master of Fine Arts Degree in Filmmaking, SangJin has started his career as a filmmaker.

Since 2014, SangJin has been participating in New York City Independent Film Festival as a Jury member.

Greg Babalas

Independent film director and cinematographer, based in Greece and UK. His short film ‘The Violin and its Shadow’ was shown in festivals worldwide, including New York City Independent Film Festival. It has been awarded in Vienna for Best Art Direction, and in Montreal for Best Cinematography.

He is a member of the Club for Unesco Art-Literature and Science of Greece, and also an award-winning photographer who has participated in thirteen photography and mixed-media exhibitions, collective and personal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours Degree in Photography, Video and Digital Imaging. During his photography studies, Greg Babalas was selected to join a mentoring scheme as Director of Photography, with Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam, and additionally to his degree, he has been awarded with the Puttnam Scholars Prize. In 2019 University of Sunderland awarded him with a scholarship, and in 2020, he received a Master of Arts degree in Media Production (Film and Television), with Distinction.

IMDB | Social Media: Greg Babalas
e-mail: gregbabalas@hotmail.com

Erin Babbin

Erin Babbin is a documentary filmmaker who believes in keeping it real. Her work centers around elevating true stories from real people who exist in the margins of the mainstream. Erin continues her family’s tradition led by her great grandfather’s home movies, her grandmother’s photography and her mother’s filmmaking. In 2011, she co-founded the Chicago based film and photo production company On The Real Film, which creates social justice and art centered work. On The Real Film has had films distributed by Fusion network and screened in festivals internationally. Babbin has sat on the pre-screening committee for the International Documentary Awards and is on the jury of Slamdance 2018-2020, and the NYC Indy Film Fest 2016-2020.

Bruno Brejt

Bruno Brejt – director, screenwriter, editor, born in Warsaw. Graduate of Warsaw University Department of Law and Administration and the Warsaw Film School.

He has produced over a dozen of short films, for which he gained recognition during international film festivals in Europe and the United States. Creator of music videos and founder of a collective of film artists called The Film Ensemble.

Currently, he is wrapping up his feature film debut entitled “Contract” and editing a documentary called “Saints of the Nineveh Valley”. The document tells the story of ordinary people touched by the drama of the Iraq War. Working on documentaries allowed the director to obtain the skills required to undertake the role of a feature film creator – patience, sensitivity and the ability to acutely observe human behavior.

He does not use social media, he prefers to meet people directly. Cat lover, enthusiast of long evenings and old records.

Bruno Brejt

Bruno Brejt – director, screenwriter, editor, born in Warsaw. Graduate of Warsaw University Department of Law and Administration and the Warsaw Film School.

He has produced over a dozen of short films, for which he gained recognition during international film festivals in Europe and the United States. Creator of music videos and founder of a collective of film artists called The Film Ensemble.

Currently, he is wrapping up his feature film debut entitled “Contract” and editing a documentary called “Saints of the Nineveh Valley”. The document tells the story of ordinary people touched by the drama of the Iraq War. Working on documentaries allowed the director to obtain the skills required to undertake the role of a feature film creator – patience, sensitivity and the ability to acutely observe human behavior.

He does not use social media, he prefers to meet people directly. Cat lover, enthusiast of long evenings and old records.

Julian Olariu

THÉTIS (water’s memory) short film 2024 length 6’15’’
GEMINI short film 2023 length 7’52’’ Busan New Wave Short Film Festival, South Korea.2024 Award WinnerJane Austen International Film Festival, Bath, UK2024 Award Winner
THE BLIND SWIMMER short film 2022 length 10’16’’ New York City Independent Film Festival, NYC, USA2023San Diego Movie Award, CA, USA2023 Award Winner Shanghai Short Film Festival, China2022 Award Winner
ERA short film 2021 length 15’44’’ Atlanta Film Festival, USA 2022 Award Best DirectorToronto Independent Film Festival, Canada 2021 FinalistJane Austen International Film Festival, Bath, UK2021 Award Best Director
ABOVE THE ANGEL short film 2020 length 6’19’’ London Experimental Film Festival, UK2020Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival, USA 2020 New York Independent Film Festival, NYC, USA2019 Award Winner Blow-Up International Arthouse Film Festival, Chicago, USA2019 Semi-finalist
ZED’S DREAM short film 2018 length 5’50’’ On Art Poland, Mocak Museum, Cracovie, Poland 2018Logcinema Art Films, Pomona, California, USA 2018
LIGHT’S MEMORY short film 2019 length 8’20’’ The Artist Forum Festival of Moving Image, New York, USA 2018 FinalistSwedenborg Film Festival, London, UK 2017
BEFORE JELLYFISH NEBULA short film 2018 -2019 length 4’35’’ Garden The Sky Water symposium international, Paris, France2019
TALES FROM JELLYFISH NEBULA short film 2017 – 2019 length 5’00’’ London Experimental, London, UK2018Defy Film Festival, Nashville,Tennessee, USA 2017
2018Paris White Night, Short film LIGHT’S MEMORY Installation, Paris, France2015Paris White Night Installation, Cloitre des Billettes, Paris, France
2004-2007Editor of an Art Contemporary and Literature magazine, QUOI ? Editions Point d’interrogation
1992 – 2006
SAGA (FIAC Edition) 1993 and 1994 Grand Palais, Paris, France
LINEART, Contemporary Art Fair, Ghent, Belgium
ST’ART Contemporary Art Fair, Strasbourg, France
1990 Exhibits 3 sculptures in the Romanian Pavilion of the UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION of SEVILLE, Spain
1985 – 1988 Graduate of the Fine Arts University Nicolae Grigorescu, Bucharest, Romania

Pedro Coutinho

Pedro Coutinho started his career as Assistant Director. In 2008, he directed his first short film “The Name of the Cat”. The film was selected for many festivals, including Shanghai International Film Festival. Between 2009 and 2012 Pedro attended Columbia University to pursue his MFA in film. “The Game”, his thesis short film, was selected for more than 50 festivals, winning prizes in many countries, such as: Brazil, USA, UK and Croatia.

In 2013, he started to direct commercials, making films for big brands, like: Coke, P&G, Harley Davidson, Bayer, among others. At the same year, he directed the second season of “Elmiro Miranda Show” a TV comedy series, for TBS. As screenwriter, he was the showrunner of the TV show “Me, she and One million of followers”, that aired in 2017.

In March of 2018, Pedro’s first feature, “All the Reasons to Forget” was released in theaters in Brazil. The film, a micro-budget dramedy, is now is available on Netflix, all over the world, and was nominated to the Brazilian Cinema Grand Prize, as comedy of the year.

Néstor del Barco Rodrigo

Is a film director and screenwriter from Extremadura. Based in León. His works are characterized by using as natural settings both his birthplace, Serradilla (Cáceres), and León, an exercise in cinematic transhumance that is repeated in all his works. He is a defender and popularizer of the Extremaduran language to which he has dedicated several documentaries and films. In the book on the Monfragüe Biosphere Reserve published by the Cáceres Provincial Council he wrote the chapter dedicated to “Serradillana Speech”. Author of fifteen film scripts.

Director and editor of the feature film Territoriu de bandolerus, which was awarded the San Pancracio Reyes Abades Award at the 2014 Spanish Film Festival and the Culture Award from the Casa Regional de Extremadura in Getafe. The film received the Serradilla Gold Medal.

Her second feature film, “Santarrostru”, a cross-border rural thriller, was released in May 2017. It has participated in the tenth edition of Getafe Negro and has been officially selected in twelve other international festivals: Montreal (Canada), Dheli (India), Siracussa (Italy), Calcutta (India), Figueira da Foz (Portugal), Sacramento (USA), Rancagua (Chile), Ficcoc (Venezuela) with the award for best photography and best editing, Wolrd Film (Australia, IWFF (India), Film Festival (León), and at the Best Fiction Film Festival in Los Angeles, where she received the award for best feature film.

As a documentary filmmaker, she has made six works, including Berezu with several international awards and Migajón, which tells the story of the magazine of the same name, published in Serradilla for several decades, and Palabras de Cristal, a beautiful tribute to her vernacular language.

In  In 2024 he made the short film “Amé”, an experimental and surrealist work, which has won more than twenty-one awards and thirty official selections in various countries.

He has participated as an International Jury in several film festivals, in the 6th Noida International Film Festival-19 in India and in the Luna de Cortos festival in León, among others.

Leandro Goddinho

Leandro Goddinho is a Brazilian filmmaker dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues. He got selected for BERLINALE TALENTS 2018 and won more than 100 awards in Film Festivals around the world. In 2015, he was selected to the German Chancellor Fellowship for Prospective Leaders sponsored by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to research and develop a documentary project on LGBTQ+ issues. His graduation Project DARLUZ (2009) won 38 awards and his 2016 short film Piscina (Pool) had its World Premiere at Palm Springs Film Festival, winning 46 Awards and being selected for more than 140 Film Festivals since then. Goddinho is currently lecturing Machinima and Screencast Films within the Master of Arts in Media and Visual Anthropology at the HMKW University – Hochschule für Medien, Kommunikation und Wirtschaft Berlin.

William Saunders

William Saunders is a New York City based Director, Editor and Filmmaker and CEO of production company Fourth.Media. 

Prashant Naik

Prashant Naik is an award-winning photographer and Filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia. For more than two decades, he has been documenting exotic locations and wonders of our natural world, that show human relationships with natural environments – from the Western Ghats in India to the deserts and mountains of the United States. His work has appeared in magazines and publications around the world. He has a keen interest in Astro and landscape photography, and over the years his work has gained international recognition in the field. His creations have been prize winners in global photography contests – such as the 2nd prize in International Photography awards 2022 and the Gold Award at the Moscow International Foto Awards in 2018 to name a few. 

 
Recently, he has turned his focus on conservation photography volunteering for non-profits such as International Dark Sky Association (IDA) and Trees Atlanta. 
 

Eric P. Granger

“Top 50 up and coming screenwriters for 2018” – Roadmap Writers

A student of Robert McKee’s “Story” and Arron Sorkin’s “Masterclass”.  Since 2000, besides screenplays, I have written, directed, and produced 4 murder mystery stage plays, and a full-length stage Musical (Book, Music and Lyrics), a collection of short stories on Kindle, and numerous magazine articles. I have won 2 “Grand Prize” awards for lyrics in Nashville and penned 20 original songs.

I have been a Judge for The Berlin International CineFest , the Lake Placid Film Festival the NYC Independent Film Festival. Now living in Lake Placid, NY and Costa Rica.

I have written eleven features, three shorts, and have four other features in progress.

Garnering 100  “Film Festival Screenplay Awards” in the past five years.  18  “BEST SCREENPLAY” * (eight different scripts) and 49 “Finalist” Awards. Including 3rd place at Cannes*.

Marcos Magario Filho

Marcos Magario Filho is a Brazilian award-winning Creative Art Director with 18 years of experience working for advertising agencies. He’s also a filmmaker, director and screenwriter in the spare time he gets between the creative conception of advertising campaigns. His short film “Inflatable Sex Doll” was part of the NYC Indie Film Festival’s official selection in 2021.