Director, Khutbah
Gulet Isse is a trans feminine, Somali American filmmaker and actor straight out of NOLA, baby! Their work as a performer has earned them roles on-screen in productions such as LITTLE AMERICA (2022) and CANDIS CAYNE’S SECRET GARDEN (2023), as well as developmental fellowships from The Sundance Institute, Center for Cultural Power, and Transgender Film Center. In conjunction with their work in film, Isse founded BXD Collective—a medium-agnostic community platform through which they have curated annual summer exhibitions and raised over $25,000 to develop the work of 50+ underrepresented artists to date.
Director, All Fixed Up
Hao Zhou is an Ohio-based filmmaker originally from southwest China. Zhou’s films explore queer and feminist themes, through a range of nonfiction and narrative approaches. Their films include the no-budget feature “The Night” (Berlinale, 2014) as well as several short films: “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” (2025), “Like What Would Sorrow Look” (2024), “Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way” (2024), “Here, Hopefully” (2023), and others. Zhou’s work has been selected by the Berlinale, Locarno, Rotterdam, SXSW, and Hot Docs, with funding from ITVS, Firelight Media, IF/Then x Hulu, Frameline, and other organizations.
Director, Crossed Veins/Venas Cruzadas
Helen is a Dominican-American child of the Atlantic, filmmaker, and culture worker from Miami, FL. Their work has screened in festivals across the country including Prismatic Ground, New Orleans Film Festival and Third Horizon Film Festival. In 2020, Helen participated in the UCLA Sanctuary Spaces Residency, where they worked on their first short film, When Angels Speak of Love, which screened on PBS South Florida. In 2023, their short film Irresistible was selected as a finalist for the New Orleans Film Society South Pitch and The Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant. In 2017, Helen co-founded (F)empower, a collective of queer feminist artist-activists. Their films and culture work have been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art, the New Museum, the Norton Museum of Art, ICA Miami and more. They are currently pursuing an MFA at California Institute of the Arts.
Director, After What Happened at the Library
Kyle Casey Chu (AKA Panda Dulce) is a Writer and Drag Story Hour co-founder. In 2022, far-right extremists stormed her reading, making global headlines. Based on the incident, Kyle’s short screenplay, “After What Happened at the Library” (Best Short Screenplay at SF Indie and TITAN Awards) is currently in post, thanks to support from Sundance, SFFILM, Skywalker Sound and Talon Entertainment. Her scripts have earned admission to labs and intensives at Sundance, WeScreenplay and Lambda Literary. Her debut middle-grade novel, “The Queen Bees of Tybee County” (HarperCollins, 2025), was just optioned! She served alongside Drag Story Hour as SF Pride Grand Marshall, 2023.
Director, Electric Homies
Roberto Fatal [they/them/ellos] is a Meztize Chicana filmmaker and storyteller. They come from Rarámuri, Genízaro, and Spanish ancestry. Their Queer, gender fluid, Mestize/Mixed identity informs the sci-fi, films they make. Their work centers on humans who sit at the intersections of time, space and culture. From this unique vantage point, these characters can bridge divides, see all sides, find new paths forward and recall multiple histories long forgotten. The mixed people of Fatal’s stories can connect us deeply to an undercurrent of humanity that we often overlook in a world that is increasingly divided. Survival, intersectional identity, perseverance, love, empathy, community, connection and creation are at the heart of their characters and films. Fatal is a Sundance Film Institute Native Film Lab Fellow Alum and an Imagine Native Director’s Lab feature film fellow alum. Their debut feature script, ELECTRIC HOMIES, was selected by GLAAD x The Black List as one of the best unproduced screenplays of 2022 and was awarded the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Grant.
Director, Layla
Amrou Al-Kadhi (they/them) is a British-Iraqi writer, filmmaker, and performer. Their directorial debut feature film LAYLA premiered in competition at Sundance and was picked up for UK release through Curzon, and has won a string of international sales in the US and throughout Europe. Amrou has several other feature films in development in both the UK and US. They are adapting their own memoir LIFE AS A UNICORN for Universal Studios / The Forge Entertainment, as well as the novel THE EXES for Fifth Season. Amrou is developing an original series with South of the River Pictures, and is writing a series for Pulse Films. They’ve written a number of episodes for Hollyoaks, as well as the finale for the BAFTA-nominated Little America for Apple TV+ with Stephen Dunn, which The Hollywood Reporter described as one of the best 10 episodes of television in 2020. Amrou also wrote an episode for The Watch for BBC America, based on the Discworld Novels of Sir Terry Pratchett. Amrou has written/directed four short films, which have screened at Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festivals around the world, and have been distributed by Peccadillo Pictures, PBS, BBC4, NOWNESS, BFI Player and Revry.
Director, The Queen of my Dreams
Fawzia Mirza (she/they) is a queer, South Asian Muslim writer and director. Fawzia’s directorial feature debut THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS world premiered TIFF 2023, was nominated for the Jean Marc Valée DGC Discovery Award, named to ‘Canada’s Top Ten 2023’ and she won ‘Best Director Feature’ by the Director’s Guild of Canada. QUEEN had its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival where it was nominated for the Sutherland First Feature Award and had its US premiere at SXSW in March 2024. THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS was in TIFF’s 2020 Writer Studio and Filmmaker Lab and stars Amrit Kaur (SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS), Nimra Bucha (MS. MARVEL & POLITE SOCIETY), Hamza Haq (TRANSPLANT), and Ayana Manji (MUSTACHE). The film was nominated for 5 Canadian Screen Awards winning Best Lead Performance in a Drama and Best Original Song. She directed on the upcoming Hulu comedy DELI BOYS from Jenni Konner and Onyx Collective – created by Abdullah Saeed – starring Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh and Poorna Jagannathan.
Director, Desire Lines
(he/him) is an internationally award-winning filmmaker, educator and 2021 Creative Capital Awardee. His interdisciplinary practice works to induce a perceptual shift in our understanding of how and what bodies mean, toward an apprehension of multiplicities. His most recent feature-length documentary, Paternal Rites (2018), premiered at MoMA’s Doc Fortnight and went on to win several festival awards. He is also the director of Dance, Dance, Evolution (2019), Something to Cry About (2018), Thick Relations (2012), Against a Trans Narrative (2009), and Transparent (2005). His work has screened at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Art Boston, the British Film Institute, Arsenal Berlin, Anthology Film Archives, Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center, the Queens Museum of Art, the Gene Siskel Film Center, and hundreds of film festivals worldwide. He has participated in residencies at Yaddo, ISSUE Project Room, Marble House, PLAYA and ACRE. Additionally, he is a noted lecturer, speaker, and professor who has held positions at Hampshire College, Sarah Lawrence College, and Purdue. He is currently Associate Professor of visual arts at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Director, Tahara
Olivia Peace (they/them) is a student Academy Award winning director and visual artist from Detroit, Michigan living in Los Angeles. Their work is heavily informed by artistic experimentation, dreamspaces, and a deep reverence for the ecosystems that made them. Olivia attended film school at Northwestern University where they studied animation and interactive art. Their senior film “Pangaea” was created with a research grant aimed at studying the effects of ecological displacement on young children specifically from New Orleans. The final piece utilized a mixture of live action and animation and went on to win a Fellowship with The Sundance Institute as a part of the year long intensive Sundance Ignite x Adobe 1324 Fellowship. Their thesis project, “Against Reality,” is a roomscale interactive experience built using AI neural networks. “Against Reality” premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and won the 2022 Student Academy Award.
Director, unseen
Set Hernandez (they/she/he) is a filmmaker and community organizer whose roots come from Bicol, Philippines. As a queer, undocumented immigrant, they dedicate their filmmaking to expand the portrayal of their community on screen. Their feature documentary debut, “unseen,” had its World Premiere at Hot Docs 2023. Set’s past documentary work includes the award-winning short “COVER/AGE” (2019) and impact producing for “Call Her Ganda” (Tribeca, 2018). An alumnus of the Disruptors Fellowship, Set is also developing both a TV comedy pilot and a feature-length screenplay. Since 2010, Set has been organizing around migrant justice issues, from deportation defense to healthcare access. They co-founded the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective which promotes equity for undocumented immigrants in the film industry. Set’s work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, NBCUniversal, FordFoundation, Open Society Foundations,” with “The Gotham Institute, Field of Vision, among others. In their past life, Set was a published linguistics researcher, focusing in the area of bilingualism. Above all, Set is the fruit of their family’s love and their community’s generosity.
Director, Kokomo City
(she/her) is a two-time Grammy nominated producer, singer, and songwriter and is now making her film debut as a director of the documentary KOKOMO CITY. Smith’s father was a world-renowned drummer, and she wrote her first song at 10 years old for the choir at church in Miami, Florida. From 4th grade through High School, Smith was a visual arts student, winning multiple awards for her eye including winning the statewide NAACP Act So award for photography and the statewide Scholastics Congressional award for drawing and was flown to the Capitol in D.C. where her work was displayed. After coming out to her father as a teen, Smith was kicked out of her house and was taken in by a church member. After graduating High School, Smith used the last of her money on a one-way bus ticket to New York City. She then began singing in the subway where she was first discovered and offered a publishing deal from Sony ATV.
Executive Producer, Queer as Folk
Jaclyn Moore (she/her) is an executive producer of the recently released Peacock series QUEER AS FOLK, and a trans woman, writer, journalist, and former showrunner of DEAR WHITE PEOPLE. Additional writing credits include the HBO show LOVE LIFE. Letting her résumé speak for itself, it’s clear she is very busy in the world of media and entertainment.
Actor, Tom Swift
Marquise Vilsón is a New York Native, by way of the Bronx, actor and activist of trans experience. He recently starred on the CW series TOM SWIFT as Isaac Vega; a trans, pansexual badass who is Tom’s bodyguard and right-hand man. Marquise was first introduced to TV audiences when he guest-starred in the critically acclaimed episode of LAW & ORDER: SVU, titled Service, addressing the issues faced by transgender military service members (GLAAD Award Nomination). Other TV credits include QUANTUM LEAP, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (recurring), BULL, THE BLACKLIST, TALES OF THE CITY and BLINDSPOT (recurring). Film credits include THE KITCHEN, BEN IS BACK, B-BOY BLUES and the upcoming THE LOST HOLIDAY. Marquise made his New York stage debut Off-Broadway as Beta in MCC Theatre’s CHARM.
Founder, Speaking of Transgender
Scott Turner Schofield (he/they) uses the power of storytelling to change the nondiscrimination policies of several major universities, Fortune 500 companies, and in mainstream entertainment. Scott is an Emmy-nominated actor, Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and was named a “trans influencer of Hollywood” by OUT Magazine. The founder of the consulting company Speaking of Transgender, Scott’s training and advocacy work changed policies in higher education and at several Fortune 500 companies before moving into the entertainment industry. Scott uses lived experience and intersectional analysis to coach conservative CEOs to trans sensitivity in the workplace, and teach youth tools for the self-esteem that living an authentic LGBTQ life requires. Scott’s 2013 TED Talk, “Ending Gender” was used for its welcoming accessibility, from Boardrooms to dinner tables.
Director, A Kid Like Jake
Silas Howard is an award-winning director, writer, and producer focused on telling honest, narratives filled with groundbreaking characters. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker brings both uncompromising vision and emotional insight to each of his projects, profoundly illuminating the experience of those who live outside the norm. His credits include executive producing and directing on FX’s Emmy nominated series Pose, executive producing and directing on Apple TV+’s Peabody Award winning Dickinson, and directing Sundance premiere and IFC Films internationally distributed film A Kid Like Jake. His television credits include directing on multiple seasons of Emmy award-winning Transparent, The Fosters, Faking It, This Is Us, High Maintenance, Tales of the City, and Josh Thomas’ Freeform show, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.
Authoress, We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film
Tre’vell Anderson (they/them) is an award-winning journalist, noted podcast host, and authoress doing world-changing work around society and culture. Named to Out magazine’s 2023 list of the 100 most impactful LGBTQ+ people and The Root’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential African Americans, they have dedicated their career to centering those in the margins, gray spaces, and at the intersections of life. Founder and Chief Imagination Officer of the social curation and media production house Slayzhon, Tre’vell is also the authoress of We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film and co-authoress of the NAACP Image Award-winning Historically Black Phrases.
Intern
Elze is a fourth year student from Vilnius, Lithuania, concentrating in Neuroscience and Science, Technology, Society Studies at Brown University. Elze has been a part of Brown’s student-organised Ivy Film Festival Programming Team for 3 years, sings soprano in the university’s chorus and is involved with the international student community.
Intern
Cash is a third year student from Essex, England, concentrating in Computer Science and Linguistics at Brown. Outside of classwork, Cash works at the Brown Arts Institute to produce the multimedia narrative project Eternal September, as well as providing audiovisual tech support at Media Services and web development at the Office of University Communications.
Coordinator
Born and raised in New Jersey, Sheryl has been working at film festivals for over 15 years. After obtaining a degree in Communication Studies at New York University, she started her career working in artist hospitality for some of New York City’s most prestigious film festivals: Tribeca Film Fetival, New Directors/ New Films, and the New York Film Festival. She continued with various logistical, operational, and curatorial positions at other festivals across the US, including the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Montclair Film Festival in NJ, and the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. Most recently, she worked as the Senior Programming Manager at Outfest, growing its festival offerings and programs for eight years. Currently, she is the Associate Director of Programming at Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans and the Director of Filmmaker/Industry Relations & Accessibility at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas.
Seyi Adebanjo (Undocumented Filmmakers Collective)
Aubree Bernier-Clarke (Filmmaker)
Neelu Bhuman (Filmmaker)
Clint Bowie (New Orleans Film Festival)
Samantha Curley (Level Ground)
D’Lo (Writer/Actor)
Anna Daliza (Writer)
Ava Davis (Studio Vosges)
Drew Denny (Allies In Arts)
Zackary Drucker (Filmmaker)
Félix Endara (Filmmaker)
Amber Espinosa-Jones (Sundance)
Grace Evangelista (Filmmaker)
Brit Fryer (Filmmaker)
Claudette Godfrey (SXSW)
Rowan Haber (Filmmaker)
Jude Harris (Filmmaker)
Set Hernandez Rongkilyo (Undocumented Filmmakers Collective)
Carmen LoBue (Filmmaker)
Allegra Madsen (Frameline)
Sepi Mashiahof (Filmmaker)
Kieran Medina (Outfest)
Lucy Mukerjee (Firelight Media)
Sav Rodgers (Transgender Film Center)
Favianna Rodriguez (Center for Cultural Power)
Ryan Rox (Femme Frontera)
Julio Salgado (Disruptors Fellowship)
Moi Santos (Sundance Institute)
Kristal Sotomayor (Philadelphia Latino Film Festival)
Mars Verrone (Filmmaker)
Shawna Virago (SF Trans Film Festival)
Andria Wilson Mirza (ReFrame)
August Winter (Spindle Films)
Kortney Ryan Ziegler (Filmmaker)