With roots in the vibrant streets of Los Angeles and a strong Salvadoran heritage, Adyery Tlahuel is a dedicated filmmaker and photographer currently studying Film and Electronic Arts at the University of California, Long Beach. Driven by a passion for storytelling, they aim to become a skilled video editor and photographer, bringing untold stories to light. Adyery finds immense joy in creating, editing, teaching photography, and collaborating with other photographers. This creative lifestyle has allowed them to connect with the world and give deeper meaning to society through their visual work. For Adyery, capturing images and videos is like composing verses about time—defying its passage, preserving memories, documenting history, and bearing witness to moments of tragedy or joy. Their work aspires to inspire understanding and foster resolutions that help move people forward.

Christine Pluviose is an educator and filmmaker. A Brooklyn College graduate in Film Production, she thrives behind the camera, specializing in screenwriting and directing. Christine also honed her documentary filmmaking skills with organizations such as the Maysles Documentary Center and DCTV. As a Teen Producers Academy (TPA) alum, she transitioned into the role of TPA Assistant, simultaneously earning an associate's degree in Liberal Arts from Hostos Community College. Christine has contributed to diverse projects, including short documentaries, experimental films, and narratives exploring themes like the Black Caribbean experience, comedy, drama, mental health, and interpersonal dynamics.

Igor Myakotin is an Emmy-nominated BAFTA-winning filmmaker who co-produced the feature-length documentary WELCOME TO CHECHNYA (Sundance ‘20, Berlinale ‘20). He is a 2022 Sundance Producing Fellow and was named by DOC NYC as one of the “40 Under 40” working in documentary film. Igor believes that cinema is not a way to escape reality but to embrace it with all its peculiarities and darkness. Currently, Igor produced QUEENDOM, directed by Agniia Galdanova, which has screened at dozens of film festivals across the world.

Imani began her journey as an artist with Youth FX, an Albany-based organization dedicated to teaching young people the fundamentals of photography, filmmaking, and music production. Imani's passion for film and photography has led her to work on several projects that have screened at film festivals worldwide, including Guam and L.A. Film Festivals. Many of these films have received numerous awards. She loves both photography and videography for their unique ability to capture and preserve moments—whether through the live recording of film or the stillness of a photograph.

Jude Chehab is a multi-award winning DP and feature filmmaker based between New York and Beirut. Her cinematic interests have drawn her to the exploration of the esoteric, the spiritual and the unspoken. A richly layered visual and intimate personal shooting style developed under the mentorship of Abbas Kiarostami’s final student group; Jude has been credited in collaborations with the BBC, Hot Docs, Refinery29, Oxfam, and Doctors Without Borders. She has worked as a DP internationally, on films in Somalia, Sudan and Pakistan and was an AP on Sesame Street’s show, Ahlan Simsim, for Syrian refugees. Her work has been awarded fellowships through: NeXt Doc, CAAM, BGDM, Points North Institute, Firelight Media and Chicken & Egg. Jude’s first feature documentary, Q, was named one of the best documentaries of 2023 by Vogue Magazine. It was supported by: IDA, ITVS, TFI, and the Sundance Institute and won the Albert Maysles award for Best New Documentary Director at Tribeca and the Grand Jury Award for Best First Feature at Sheffield DocFest. The film won a Cinema Eye Honor and was nominated for two IDA awards. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and part of DOCNYC's '40 under 40' list. In 2021, Filmmaker Magazine named her one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

Kristal Sotomayor is a nonbinary bilingual Latinx documentary filmmaker, journalist, and curator based in Philadelphia. Drawing inspiration from their Peruvian heritage, Kristal’s community-based work practice focuses on Latinidad, immigration, and belonging. They practice transformative filmmaking that humanizes and validates the lived experiences of underrepresented communities. To that end, Kristal founded the queer BIPOC-owned and operated media production company, Sotomayor Productions, that works at the intersection of investigative journalism and documentary filmmaking to advance the portrayals of Latinx and queer communities. 

Kristal has been named one of “10 Latinx Filmmakers You Should Know About” by HipLatina. They have been distinguished as a 2023 DOC NYC Documentary New Leader and received the prestigious Rockwood Documentary Leadership Fellowship. Kristal’s short documentary “Expanding Sanctuary”, about the historic end to police surveillance organized by the Philadelphia Latinx immigrant community, will premiere in November 2023 at St. Louis Film Festival. They are in post-production of “Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” about a legendary drag queen funded by the Creative Hope Initiative, presented by Outfest and TRAVERSE32. Kristal is in-development on an animated short docu-fiction film called “Alx Through The Labyrinth” that take a dive into the nonbinary Latinx Alice In Wonderland-like reality of contracting COVID-19; from the symptoms of vertigo to sensory loss and the labyrinth of seeking treatment. Kristal’s work has been supported by the If/Then North Shorts Residency, MDOCS Storytellers’ Institute Visiting Fellowship, DCTV Docu Work-In-Progress Lab, Justice For My Sister Sci-Fi TV Screenwriting Lab, BAVC Serial Storytellers Lab, Scribe Video Center Film Scholars Fellowship, Good Pitch Local: Philadelphia Lab, and NeXtDoc Fellowship. 

Kristal has served as a curator for acclaimed film festivals across the country including True/False Film Fest, SFFILM, Frameline and Tri-Co Film Festival. Formerly, they served as the Awards Competition Manager for the IDA Documentary Awards, the world’s most distinguished event dedicated exclusively to the documentary genre. They were a union organizer for Documentary Workers United (DWU), the union that represents IDA bargaining unit employees, and were working to secure the first collective bargaining agreement. In the past they were the Programming Director of the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF) and Communications and Outreach Coordinator at Scribe Video Center. They have assisted with curation for the “Spotlight on Documentaries” at IFP Week, Philadelphia Film Festival and the award-winning PBS documentary series POV | American Documentary. They have been awarded the Film Festival Alliance Film Festival Leadership Lab Fellowship, NALAC Advocacy Leadership Institute, and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange. 

They are also the Editor in Chief of the cinéSPEAK Journal and Co-Founder/Journalist of ¡Presente! Media, a collective led by Latinx filmmakers that produce bilingual content focused on social justice. They serve as the Treasurer on the Board of Director for GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. Kristal’s journalistic background includes having written for ITVS, AL DÍA, WHYY, Autostraddle, Modern Brown Girl and Documentary Magazine. They wrote the Latinx cinema column “Cine alzando voz” and served on the Editorial Collective for the cinéSPEAK Journal. Kristal’s writing has been supported by the Sundance Institute Press Inclusion Initiative, TIFF Media Inclusion Initiative, IDA Magazine Editorial Fellowship, NBC University Visual Storytelling During Breaking News Program, and Lenfest Constellation News Leadership Initiative. They are a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, CherryPicks Approved Critic, and the TIME’S UP Critical Database.

Valentina Vargas is a Colombian storyteller who explores the complex realities of the places she inhabits through documentary filmmaking and performing arts. She describes her experience as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. as her primary political education which shaped her understanding that nothing is fortuitous and that everything obeys an order held together by systematic oppression. For her, art and storytelling are ways of reflecting on the other, and it is only in the encounter with the otherness that essential connections for the changes needed can be created. Her documentary film Resiliencia, about the forced disappearances in la Comuna 13, a sector of her native city of Medellín, went to multiple festivals worldwide and is still used as a memory archive. Valentina brings her graphic design, audiovisual production and communication skills to Skylight’s VIVX program, a mutual support network by environmental and human rights defenders for defenders throughout Latin America.

Walter Kelly is a writer, actor, and comedian currently writing on Netflix's Human Resources, a spin-off of the hit animated series Big Mouth. Walter voiced several characters on ABC's When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren, a natural history mockumentary comedy series now streaming on Hulu. Walter currently lives in Brooklyn where he brings his fiercely vibrant energy, unique perspective, and bubbly personality to stages all around town.

Yashaswi is an artist and filmmaker living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their practice blends performance and animation with nonfiction filmmaking, and 2D hand-drawn frame animation with new media technologies. Yashaswi is interested in exploring hybrid storytelling and the surreal, sensory experiences of everyday life.