Chrisy Baek film: HAMSA Category: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Chrisy Baek is a NYC based CG Look Development Artist, primarily focusing on environment modeling, texturing, shading, lighting, and compositing. Co-director of the Student Academy Winning film “Hamsa”, was a Co-lead of Women in Animation at SVA, a former Walt Disney Animation Studios CG Art Intern of 2018, and co-director of "Voilà!". She has ended her first freelance job at Hornet Animations Inc. and on her way to freelancing at SuperDopeTV.

Rommel Villa Barriga film: SWEET POTATOES Category: NARRATIVE (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Rommel Villa Barriga was born and raised in Bolivia. His passion for storytelling started when he was a kid, creating fictional stories about his family fighting poverty and corruption in a magical world full of dinosaurs and llamas. Rommel grew up writing/directing award-winning plays based on social issues he learned at PASCAR, a social organization that educates young adults in HIV/AIDS misconceptions and LGBTQ+ advocacy. At 18, he served in the military for a year in Bolivia, which exposed Rommel to an extremely sexist and discriminatory environment. Winner of a Directing stipend from Lionsgate-Televisa's Latinx filmmaker program, Rommel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Systems Engineering and an MFA in Film/TV Production at USC with an emphasis in Writing/Directing. In the last few years, Rommel received a couple of USC filmmaker grants which funded his award-winning LGBTQ+ thesis film Teddy Mate, and Sweet Potatoes, a historical film funded by the Sloan Foundation which is a Winner at the 2020 Student Academy Awards. Rommel is currently developing a series based on Sweet Potatoes called Revolutionary Lives, and is also writing a couple of features to be filmed in Bolivia/USA.

Yucong Chen film: UNFINISHED LIVES Category: DOCUMENTARY (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Yucong Chen is originally from Qingdao, China, and is now based in LA. In pursuit of her filmmaking aspirations, Yucong earned a MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and a BFA from the Communication University of China. Yucong’s film practice is centered on the shared human experience, from marginalized communities and immigration crises, to interpersonal connections like encounters and farewells.

Marie Mc Court film: I WAS STILL THERE WHEN YOU LEFT ME Category: NARRATIVE (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS) Marie Mc Court is a Franco-Danish director. In 2019, she graduated with her Masters degree in Directing at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium. Her graduation film, “I Was Still There When You Left Me,” shot with first time actors, won a Student Academy Awards and was screened at prestigious film festivals worldwide, winning multiple awards. Festival selections include: San Sebastián International Film Festival, Regard Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival, Côté Court and many more. While developing her first feature and second short film, she’s also doing street casting. Marie gets a lot of inspiration from the people she meets there and uses improv on set to incorporate details of reality in her work. She builds her characters on the basis of real life stories, creating sensory experiences embedded in more dramatic social issues and intimate problems. She writes immersive films to use empathy as a tool to break the silent agreement for violence. She’s very inspired by the work of Lynne Ramsay, the Safdie brothers, Ruben Östlund, James Blake and Toni Morrison.

Karishma Dube film: BITTU Category: NARRATIVE (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Karishma Dev Dube is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York. A recipient of the Dean’s fellowship, Karishma recently graduated from NYU’s Graduate Film Program. Her award winning short film Devi (Goddess), has played 54 festivals worldwide including BFI London Film Festival, Edinburgh FF and Outfest LA where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short. Her most recent short film Bittu won a Student Academy Award and has been selected for Telluride Film Festival, Palm Springs Shortfest and Short Shorts Asia FF. She is currently producing her first feature length film Burning Well directed by Mary Evangelista, that was a part of the Sundance Talent Forum 2019 and TFI Network 2020. As a filmmaker, Karishma intends to challenge assumptions about and within her country.

Daniela Dwek film: HAMSA Category: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Daniela Dwek, both artist and director of the short film Hamsa, is a Middle Eastern Artist who seeks to share important and impactful stories with the world though the medium of 3D Animation. Due to her diverse background and thirst for learning, she is also passionate about anthropology and loves to learn new languages.

Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma film: CIERVO Category: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma is a freelance animator and fine artist who currently resides in New York. She is an alum of the Laguardia High School of the Arts in New York and received her BFA in Animation at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2020. While you could describe her as being a very talkative person, she has always found it easier to express her emotions and feelings through visual mediums rather than words, making her work take on a very intimate and emotional quality overall. She enjoys making both 2D animation and stop motion films, and often uses elements of mixed media in her films by combining traditional and digital elements through compositing. Her work as a whole ranges from fiction and fantastical to poetic and metaphorical, and often deals with memory and human interaction paired with themes of womanhood, family, and our relationship to the natural world.

German Golub film: MY DEAR CORPSES Category: NARRATIVE (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS) Born in Pärnu, South of Estonia, German is a film director and student of Baltic Film and Media School, studying his last year of Directing feature BA Film Arts. Throughout a short career, he has directed multiple short feature films and short documentary films, one of them in China. Identifying himself as Estonian and European, but having direct access to both West and East cultures. An investigation of the cultural treasures of both cultures strongly influenced and dualized his perception, understanding, and perspective of the view of the world around him.

Maren Klakegg film: DEAR FATHER... Category: DOCUMENTARY (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS) Maren is a director, cinematographer and editor. Her passion is documentary filmmaking. It’s important for her to shine a light on stories about the interpersonal, humans as well as important and taboo topics in today’s society. Maren finished her degree in TV and Film production in 2019. Since then she has worked on a feature documentary film, TV shows, commercials, produced music videos and is working on a new documentary on the side.

Maya Mendonca film: HAMSA Category: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) West Indian girl and Brooklyn native, Maya Mendonca, is 3D Character Animator who loves to bring out sincerity in characters. Before her role as co-director of the Student Academy winning film “Hamsa”, Maya mentored students in the 3D Animation club at her college and practiced animation in her spare time. Maya also worked for Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and will begin freelancing at Hornet Animation Inc.

Percival Argüero Mendoza film: CRESCENDO Category: NARRATIVE (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS) Percival Argüero Mendoza was born in Mexico City. He received a BA in Philosophy at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) but has been devoted to motion pictures since 2008. He majored in Film Directing at Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC), a world-renowned school that allowed him to gain experience in many areas of filmmaking, from screenwriting to post-production. He has directed six narrative shorts, the latest of which premiered at the 17th Morelia International Film Festival, had its international premiere in Poland at the 27th edition of Camerimage and won a Student Academy Award in 2020.

Kate Namowicz film: MIME YOUR MANNERS Category: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Kate Namowicz is a character animator who graduated from the computer animation program from Ringling College of Art and Design. Kate has always wanted to be an artist ever since she was a little girl and discovered she wanted to be an animator. Kate is the co-director, co-writer, and animator on Mime Your Manners made at Ringling. She had an animation internship at Universal Creative at Universal Orlando Resort as a 3D animation intern animating a special animatronic on a project for the new Universal Beijing Resort in China. Kate’s goal is to pursue a career as a character animator at a major animation feature film studio and one day to become an animation supervisor and lead a team of animators.

Skyler Porras film: MIME YOUR MANNERS Category: ANIMATION (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Skyler Porras grew up in a Port Neches, a small oil city in Texas. He graduated from Ringling College of art and design with a bachelor's degree in computer animation. He strives to use 3D animation and VR in the pursuit of cheaper, more abundant, and increasingly entertaining educational programs. Currently, Skyler is developing a specialized animation portfolio seeking a position at a major animation studio.

Pascal Schelbli film: THE BEAUTY Category: ANIMATION (INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS) Pascal Schelbli was working as a Motion Designer and Visual Effects Artist for many years, after he graduated as a graphic designer. But his interests in telling stories with computer generated images, growth through all these years too, so he got accepted to the renowned Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, to study Animation. He successfully finished his study by his graduation film “The Beauty“ in 2019. Today he is working as a freelance 3D artist and director.

Talia Smith film: UMAMA Category: NARRATIVE (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) A filmmaker born and raised in South Africa. Her country's rich heritage inspired her storytelling aspirations from a young age. At 8 she decided she would one day move to New York to share these stories with the world through film. 10 years later she followed her dreams and studied Film & TV at NYU's Tisch School of the arts. Throughout her filmmaking career, she has made South African and female-focused pieces. No matter the genre, all her films are created in pursuit of expanding perspectives.

Curry Sicong Tian film: SIMULACRA Category: ALTERNATIVE/EXPERIMENTAL (DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOLS) Los Angeles-based filmmaker Curry Sicong Tian has held various roles including 3d motion designer, concept/digital artist, illustrator, animator, photographer, creative director at studios internationally. Born and raised in China, she is aiming to bridge the gap between eastern and western culture, video art and film, expanding beyond into 3d motion graphic and alternative modes of storytelling.

Allison Waite film: THE DOPE YEARS: THE STORY OF LATASHA HARLINS Category: DOCUMENTARY (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Allison A. Waite is an award-winning director and cinematographer. She obtained her MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts in Film & Television Production with a cinematography concentration as a George Lucas Foundation Scholar. Filmmaking is her activism tool of choice; she aims to give unresolved stories a voice and spark connections within her community. In addition, Allison has received recognition such as the Princess Grace Foundation HBO film Award and a Student Academy Award for her film "The Dope Years: The Story of Latasha Harlins."

Laura Zéphirin film: MAKING WAVES Category: DOCUMENTARY (DOMESTIC FILM SCHOOLS) Laura Zéphirin is a French Filmmaker based in New York. She grew up in Paris where she worked for a decade as a producer, editor and videographer in the main national TV channels. She then relocated to the Big Apple in 2017 to further explore and investigate the profound injustices that underlie our world’s social and environmental issues. Given her longtime passion for this cause, Laura decided to initiate the production of “Making Waves” in 2019 while enrolled in the News and Documentary program at New York University. Her intention and purpose behind her first documentary is to both inform the worldwide audience of the robust impact we, as humans, have on our natural environment, as well as stimulate a shift in our overall understanding of our oceans.

Eugenio Derbez Actor, writer, director and producer Eugenio Derbez is one of the most influential creative forces in Latin America, and one of the most recognized actors in the Latinx community in the U.S. With recent successes in features, Derbez has become an international star.

Variety named Derbez as the #1 most influential Hispanic male in the world, and he has been named the #1 social media influencer in Mexico for the previous two years due to his more than 45 million followers across all social media.

Derbez starred with Anna Faris in MGM / Lionsgate’s remake of the classic romantic comedy “Overboard.” The movie made nearly $100 million in box office worldwide. Derbez produced the movie through his banner, 3Pas Studios. With the success of his previous movie, Lionsgate distributed “How to Be a Latin Lover” starring Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch, which Derbez also produced.

Prior to that, his breakout success, the Spanish language dramedy, “Instructions Not Included” qualified Derbez as a bonafide movie star. “Instructions Not Included”, which he not only directed but also co-wrote, became the most successful Spanish-language film ever in the U.S. and worldwide, and broke numerous box office records, grossing over $100 million.

Derbez can also be seen in Paramount’s, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold”, starring Eva Longoria, Michael Peña, and Isabel Moner, directed by James Bobin. Derbez is also an executive producer.

Derbez co-starred in Disney’s “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” with Helen Mirren, Keira Knightly and Morgan Freeman, directed by Lasse Hallström. He also starred in “Miracles from Heaven” with Jennifer Garner, Kyle Rogers, Martin Henderson, and Queen Latifah, directed by Patricia Riggen.

For over two decades prior, the TV shows Derbez created and in which he starred – “La Familia P. Luche” and “XHDRBZ” -- have become part of the popular culture both in Mexico and the U.S. through the LatinX television network, Univision. His hosting duties on the Latin Grammys and the FIFA World Cup have drawn huge global audiences.

Born in Mexico City, Derbez is the son of legendary cinema and television actress, Sylvia Derbez. He began acting at age twelve in one of his country’s popular telenovelas. He holds a degree in film directing from the Mexican Institute of Cinematography and Theatre, as well as a degree in acting from Televisa's Acting School. He has also studied and trained in dance and music, and has been able to showcase those talents in shows like Broadway's, “Latinologue” and the Spanish language version musical of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” And, as a testament to his popularity and contributions to the arts in both languages, Derbez was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2016.

Shunsaku Hayashi Shunsaku Hayashi (b.1992, Osaka) is a filmmaker/painter explores the intersection of experimental film, animation and painting. “Interstitial (2017)“ won the Grand Jury Prize for Animation Short at 23rd Slamdance Film Festival. “Railment (2017)” received the Chris Frayne Award for Best Animated Film at 55th Ann Arbor Film Festival, and “Remember (2015)” got Golden Horseman for Animated Film at 28th Filmfest Dresden. His newest film “Leaking Life (2019)” was an official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival, Annnecy International Animation Festival, Gijon Film Festival, where it was awarded the Young Jury Award, and the Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema where it received a Special Jury Mention.

Glen Keane "A 38 year veteran of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Glen Keane trained under Walt Disney’s 9 Old Men. Glen Keane went on to create many beloved Disney characters, such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Beast, Tarzan, and Rapunzel.In 2012, Keane departed Disney to begin Glen Keane Productions as way to further his artistic explorations in animation, design and film. He has since gone on to collaborate with Google, the Paris Ballet, and Netflix. His most recent project is the animated film “Dear Basketball”, which he animated and directed in collaboration with legends Kobe Bryant and John Williams.He is currently directing "Over the Moon" in partnership with Pearl Studio and Netflix. The animated feature is set to be released Oct 23.”

Spike Lee Academy Award® Winner SPIKE LEE’s iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. Most recently, he Directed and Co-Wrote Da 5 Bloods for Netflix, his latest joint. Prior to Da 5 Bloods, the visionary filmmaker Co-Wrote and Directed the Academy Award®-nominated and critically acclaimed hit film BlacKkKlansman, winning the Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay.

His career spans over 30 years and includes: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy® Award-winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, a follow up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P Newton Story. In the Television area, he launched his Netflix original series “She’s Gotta Have It”, which ran 2 seasons on the platform. The series is a contemporary update of his classic film.

Spike Lee is a five-time Oscar nominee (Do The Right Thing for Original Screenplay, 4 Little Girls for Documentary Feature, BlacKkKlansman for Picture, Director and Best Adapted Screenplay-Winner) and he was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film and Artistic Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is based in Da Republic of Brooklyn, NY.

Dawn Porter Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on HBO, PBS, Discovery, and Netflix among others. She is currently directing and executive producing an Apple TV multi-part documentary series with Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry, which focuses on both mental illness and mental well-being.

Other current projects include the documentary Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain which explores Vernon Jordan’s rise from the segregated South to become one of the most influential African American thought leaders in America; John Lewis: Good Trouble for CNN Films, which explores late Congressman John Lewis’ pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement and decades of political and social activism on important issues including voting rights, immigration laws, and much more; and The Way I See It, about photojournalist Pete Souza, who served as Chief Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and previously as an Official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan.

Dawn also directed and produced the acclaimed four-hour Netflix original series Bobby Kennedy for President, which was released in 2018 and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

A two-time Sundance festival Director, her film Trapped which explored laws regulating abortion clinics in the South won the special jury social-impact prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, in addition to a Peabody and numerous other awards.

Her 2013 documentary Gideon's Army premiered on HBO and won best editing at Sundance. Gideon’s Army was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy, and is part of the U.S. Department of State’s American Film Showcase.

Dawn also directed and produced Spies of Mississippi, a critically-acclaimed historical documentary that was part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. In 2015 Dawn directed and produced Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper, a film for The Discovery Channel chronicling President Obama’s program to help young men of color succeed.

Dawn has been commissioned to create films for the Center for Investigative Reporting, Time and Essence Magazines, The New York Times Op Docs, and Amazon. Her work has received generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures and other esteemed organizations. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Directors Guild of America.

Lulu Wang With the rare ability to captivate audiences with her sincere storytelling and global perspective, Lulu Wang continues to establish herself as a writer and filmmaker to watch.

Most recently, Wang released her second feature THE FAREWELL, which she both wrote and directed. The story follows Billi (Awkwafina), who returns to China after decades in America to join a household of relatives as they convene to say goodbye to the family’s elderly matriarch under the pretense of a shotgun wedding.

The film first premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, earning Wang a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize. After its success at Sundance, A24 picked it up for worldwide distribution and released the film in select theaters on July 7. Since then, Wang’s sophomore feature has garnered a multitude of praises, including Variety naming Wang among its “Top Ten Directors To Watch in 2019”. The film recently won Best Feature at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards, as well as a Best Actress Golden Globe for Awkwafina and a Best Supporting Actress Spirit Award for Zhao Shuzhen. The critically-acclaimed film also garnered multiple nominations throughout the season including “Best Feature” and “Best Screenplay” at the 2019 Gotham Independent Film Awards, AFI's Top Ten Films in 2019, as well as “Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language” at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards.

Wang’s debut feature film, POSTHUMOUS, stars Brit Marling and Jack Huston. Released by The Orchard in 2014, the indie romantic comedy follows a struggling artist who finds himself accidentally reported dead. On behalf of the debut film, Wang was awarded with the Chaz and Roger Ebert Directing Fellowship at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards.