Lucca Castañeda (he/him, 20) is a junior at DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts, studying to obtain his BFA in Film and Television (Directing). He has worked on over 20+ productions ranging from feature films to music videos, and is inspired by cinema’s ability to turn complex emotions into shared experiences.

Ariel Hargrove (she/they, 24) is a recent graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Film & Television. As a cinephile, she has dedicated her life to the powers of film history and theory. Ariel is particularly invested in queer and experimental cinema, writing essays and creating programs that highlight the importance of boundary pushing and introspective films.

Ashar Khan (he/him, 22) is a senior at DePaul University studying Film and Television with a concentration in directing and a minor in animation. As a filmmaker, his primary focus is shedding light on Pakistani-American ways of life, whether that’s through documentary work, narrative, or various animated mediums.

Quinn Kou (they/them, 20) is a sophomore at the University of Chicago studying Cinema & Media Studies and Business Economics. A projectionist at Film Studies Center and Doc Films, Quinn volunteers with Chicago International Film Festival and Chicago Horror Film Festival. They trace global film cultures firsthand by backpacking, inhabiting art cinemas worldwide, and thinking through the phenomenology of spectatorship.

Josh Peterson (he/they, 22) is a senior at DePaul University, in the BFA Film and Television program with a Creative Producing concentration. A passionate, lifelong fan of the medium, he has a long history of working at movie theaters, has produced several student films, and made five short films of his own. He is most drawn to film as a form of catharsis, and his future goal is to be a producer of independent films.

Stevie Gale Rezac (they/he, 21) is a senior at DePaul University studying Film and Television with a concentration in documentary and a minor in experimental film. They have created several short films and have recently directed their first music video for their band, Sweet Thorns. Stevie’s films usually explore themes of gender, the body, and conformity. Their main goal as a filmmaker is to uplift queer artists and stories.

Verónica Silvosa (she/her, 22) is a senior at Northwestern University studying Radio, Television, and Film. She has worked on several student films in roles ranging from producer to director and is passionate about film history and contemporary independent cinema. She advocates for diverse voices in the industry and serves as co-president of Northwestern’s Multicultural Filmmakers Collective.

Sanaa Thomas (she/her, 20) is a Junior at Columbia College Chicago. With three years of film festival experience, she is very excited to continue her work in a new city, shedding light on marginalized communities through film and art. Her main focus is production design, helping directors and producers bring their films to life and aiding in the creation of beautiful and intense projects.

Sisi Wattanagool (he/him, 23) is a senior at Lake Forest College pursuing New Media Arts & Design. Originally from Bangkok, Thailand, he fell in love with expanded cinema and interdisciplinary storytelling. His work explores identity, gender politics, and intimacy through new media practices. Driven by curiosity and a commitment to human connection, he is drawn to projects that amplify marginalized voices.

Olivia Wright (she/her, 20) is a sophomore at the University of Chicago studying biology and a projectionist at Doc Films who fell in love with cinema at London’s BFI Southbank. Amid a premedical course load, film is her respite. She is drawn to youth-made films that use structure, silence, and smaller moments to explore the everyday.

Vera Brunner-Sung (she/her) is a filmmaker working across experimental, nonfiction, and narrative. Her award-winning features and short films have screened around the world and been supported by the Sundance Institute, Center for Asian American Media, SFFILM, and the National Park Service, among others. Her writing about film has appeared in publications including Sight & Sound and Millennium Film Journal, and she has programmed for festivals and other venues. She is an associate professor in the Department of Radio/Television/Film at Northwestern University.

Liliane Calfee (she/her) is a documentary filmmaker and film instructor at DePaul University. She leads programs in collaboration with the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), focused on expanding film industry access and amplifying the creative power of marginalized youth. Her award-winning programs pair CHA residents with experienced filmmakers and top DePaul graduate students, resulting in a portfolio of short films recognized at prestigious festivals across the country. Under her leadership, the program has evolved into a year-round initiative, providing participants with immersive industry experiences. Through attending premier film festivals, securing on-set placements, and serving on film juries, they gain firsthand exposure to the professional world, building industry connections and practical experience that position them for careers in film and media.

Ted Hardin is an Associate Professor at Columbia College Chicago. He is a filmmaker and director of photography whose work has been featured on the BBC and New York Times sites. He has worked on films for German television and was awarded a Fulbright to study German film history. He worked at the Wexner Center for the Arts, Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and owns a production company with Elizabeth Coffman. Their last documentary, Flannery, on the southern writer Flannery O’Connor received funding from the NEH, won the first Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film and was broadcast on PBS American Masters. Just released, A Gathering of Strangers—the Making of the Merchant in Venice about the first ever staging of Shakespeare’s play in the earliest known Jewish Ghetto, is on the festival circuit now. A longitudinal, environmental documentary Venice is Thinking, about the efforts to save Venice, Italy, from the effects of climate change, is nearing completion.

Danielle Holtz (she/they) is the Program Director for all city-wide student arts programs for Chicago Public Schools, including the RE:ALIZE dual enrollment program, the ART on THE MART CPS Exhibition, the All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions, the RE•VER•BER•ATE Festival, the All-City Performing Arts ensemble program, and the Arts Student Voice Committee. Danielle received a BA in Theatre Studies from Kent State University and an MAT in Elementary Education from Columbia College Chicago. She is passionate about making arts programming more equitably accessible to CPS students.

Jane Keranen (they/them) is a writer and film programmer from the midwest. They received their BFA from the University of Southern California, where they studied screenwriting and narrative studies. They have previously been a writer for Webtoon, a production assistant at Gutsy Media, and a film programmer and projectionist at FilmScene in Iowa City. They currently serve as the Events and Program Coordinator for the Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago.

Missy Hernandez (she/her) is an award-winning screenwriter and independent filmmaker whose scripts center Latiné experiences in the US and Caribbean. Her work is intersectional, feminist, often political, and unapologetically fantastical as suits the genre or her whims. Her feature script, I Don’t Dream in Spanish Anymore, was a finalist for the Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant and the Urbanworld Film Festival Screenplay Competition, the winner of the 2024 Athena List, and the winner of the 2024 Nantucket Film Festival’s Tony Cox Feature Screenplay Competition. Missy’s previous projects have received support from NALIP, Cine Qua Non Labs, and the Chicago International Film Festival’s CIX: Lab. Missy graduated from Columbia University in New York with a BA in Cinema Studies and an MFA in Screenwriting. She is an assistant professor at the School of Film and Television at Columbia College Chicago.

Elizabeth Myles (she/her): Elizabeth Myles is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary filmmaker, animator, and printmaker born and raised in Oklahoma City. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies with Honors. Her interest in moving images and the possibility of freedom within structured repetitive acts drives her film, animated, and screen-printed work, which are also informed by her ongoing classical cello practice. By combining traditional film techniques with experimental animation, her work uncovers significant themes of interior spaces and explorations of Blackness. Elizabeth runs the Digital Storytelling Initiative, where she is one of a small team that drives community engagement at the Logan Center for the Arts in Hyde Park. Her role draws upon the unique intersection of her skills as a community builder and filmmaker as she facilitates access to resources for South Siders to have the tools to tell their own stories.

Jennifer Reeder was recently named by Bong Joon Ho as a filmmaker to watch in the 2020s. She constructs nuanced genre films about relationships, trauma, and coping that borrow from a range of forms including after-school specials and amateur music videos and could be classified as NOIR CAMP. These films have shown at festivals and museums around the world, including Sundance, Berlin, Rotterdam, SXSW, Tribeca, BFI-LFF, and The Whitney Biennial and the Venice Biennale. She received the 2024 Tour De Force Award from the Chicago International Film Festival.

Caitlin Ryan is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. Her work explores the nuances between comedy and humor, specifically using the vernacular of the uncanny to investigate systems of anthropology. Ryan is interested in small underground (and sometimes temporary) communities to observe perspectives. Ryan received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has most recently shown works at Airlock, Iceberg Projects, Flatlands, Gallery 400, and Hyde Park Art Center. She has also screened works at Onion City Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, ICDOCS, Cosmic Rays, and the Nightingale Cinema.

Miguel Silveira (he/him) is a Brazilian-American screenwriter, director, producer, and assistant professor at the School of Communication at Loyola University Chicago. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Miguel studied filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago and later received an M.F.A. in Directing from Columbia University in New York City. He has taught at the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in Cuba, Columbia College Chicago, Columbia University, School of Creative and Performing Arts, and from his award-winning short films Namibia Brazile, Rooftop Wars, and Devil’s Work to his recent features American Thief (2020) and The Last Election and Other Love Stories (2021), Miguel’s work celebrates topics related to human dignity. His projects have received support from the Sloan Foundation, The Director’s Guild of America, Cine Qua Non Labs, the Jerome Foundation, and IFP/The Gotham.

Erika Valenciana (she/her) is a Chicana filmmaker from Chicago with a Film & Video BA from Columbia College Chicago. Her award-winning short films have screened at festivals internationally, including Blackstar and Mountainfilm. Her recent recognition includes winner of Chicago International Film Festival Industry Days Pitch, Jury & Audience winner Best Doc Short at Anchorage International Film Festival, and Honorable Mention Best Short at DC Environmental Film Festival. Valenciana’s work has been supported by Tribeca Film Institute, Cine Qua Non Lab, Stowe Story Labs, Puffin Foundation, Kartemquin Films, Chicago International Film Festival CIX Lab, DC Environmental Film Festival Pitch, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and Illinois Arts Council. Valenciana amplifies the voices of her local community of filmmakers through the Mezcla Media Collective’s Leadership Circle, as a mentor for Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs and as a teacher at DePaul University.