Jurors

Alexa Tremblay-Francoeur

Alexa Tremblay-Francoeur is an independent animated film director based in Canada. Her short films, which address sensitive topics often linked to major human questions, social issues, or historical events, earned 20 awards across 150 festival selections. Alexa’s latest film, La petite ancêtre, also obtained nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards and the Gala Québec Cinéma.

McKinley Benson

McKinley Benson is an American filmmaker working across live-action and animation whose work pairs intimate character-driven stories with a strong visual sensibility. His work has received international recognition, including a place on the Sony Future Filmmakers Awards 2026 shortlist, alongside honors including a Vimeo Staff Pick, the Best Story Award at Animayo, and the Director’s Choice Award at Thomas Edison FF. With 100+ official selections, 20+ festival wins, and three Student Emmy Awards, McKinley has been highlighted by Variety, Animation Magazine, and Cartoon Brew. He has collaborated with Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount, NBCUniversal, and XYZ Films.

Justin Stephenson

Justin Stephenson is an award-winning filmmaker and digital moving image designer whose work focuses on materialities. As a director, Justin has received multiple Canadian Screen Awards, a Juno nomination, and four Golden Sheaf Awards for projects including Gord Downie’s Secret Path. His design credits include main titles for films by David Cronenberg, Sarah Polley, Atom Egoyan, and Andrew Stanton.

Kheyal Roy-Meighoo

Kheyal Roy-Meighoo is a stop motion animator, director, and fabricator currently receiving her MFA in Animation. She was awarded a Fulbright grant to pursue an MA in Animation in the UK and received animation certificates from the Aardman Academy. In the past 5 years, Kheyal has directed over 10 short films, winning the Ray Harryhausen Best Student Film Award, a Disney Women in Film Award, and two Women in Film and Television Atlanta scholarships.

Laura Checkoway

Laura Checkoway is known for character-driven stories defined by rare emotional access and cinematic style. Her breakthrough film Edith+Eddie received an Academy Award nomination and Emmy nomination in 2018. She directed The Cave of Adullam, produced by Laurence Fishburne, which premiered at Tribeca 2022 winning Best Documentary Feature and Audience Award. On World Refugee Day 2025, Al Jazeera English released her documentary The Cat Man Eshete, which won Best Documentary Short and Audience Award at the Charlotte Film Festival.

Ricki “Ricasso” Nelson

Ricki Nelson is an award-winning filmmaker, published author, and multi-hyphenate creative. Her industry credits include The Summer I Turned Pretty, Appendage, and The Supremes at Earl’s All You-Can-Eat. Her short film Thank You for Your Time won the inaugural Champa & Vasant Patel Carolina Filmmaker Award at the Charlotte Film Festival. Ricki is the founder of Black Creatives Social Club and co-founder of SKRAPPI Productions.

Jay Liu

Jay Liu is a writer, director, and editor hailing from Hong Kong. His work has won awards at Slamdance, the American Black Film Festival, and HollyShorts, while his documentary Hail, A Taxi Home screened at the Charlotte Film Festival last year. Jay is currently based in London.

John Rash

John Rash is a filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist with a practice based in documentary storytelling, focusing on counter-culture communities, environmentalism, social justice movements, and independent artists. His work has shown in museums, film festivals, and PBS, receiving critical acclaim and awards globally. John is the founder of the Southern Punk Archive and is an Assistant Professor of Film Production and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi.

Mikaela Shwer

Mikaela Shwer is an award-winning documentary editor and filmmaker. Her debut feature Don’t Tell Anyone earned the George Foster Peabody Award. She worked as editor and co-producer on HBO’s Allen v. Farrow, which received seven Primetime Emmy nominations. Her recent credits include Harry & Meghan (Netflix), Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York (HBO), and Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer (Netflix). She is currently editing the untitled Barbra Streisand documentary directed by Frank Marshall.

Lulu Wei

Lulu Wei is an award-winning director and cinematographer based in Toronto whose work explores space-making, cultural identity, and queerness. Their debut feature There’s No Place Like This Place, Anyplace premiered at Hot Docs 2020, receiving a Rogers Audience Award and Canadian Screen Award nominations for Best Direction and Best Writing. Their second feature Supporting Our Selves won Best Canadian Feature at Inside Out Film Festival 2023.

Jennie Amias

Jennie Amias has enjoyed an extensive career in unscripted television and film. Her credits include co-producing episodes of PBS’s American Masters, producing for CNN and Al-Jazeera with Soledad O’Brien, and coordinating ESPN’s ten-part series Basketball: A Love Story. Her feature work includes the Academy Award-nominated No End in Sight, The Armstrong Lie (Alex Gibney), Moonage Daydream (Brett Morgen), and The Rescue (Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin).

Stephen Han

Stephen Han is a Korean-American filmmaker born and based in Queens, New York. A child of immigrants and first-generation creative of color, he holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA in Cinema Studies from NYU Tisch. With an affinity for experimental and non-fiction storytelling, his work has been recognized by NFFTY, BFI Future Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival, and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Blake Winston Rice

Blake Winston Rice is a writer-director from New Jersey. His short Tea (2024), starring Michael Gandolfini and executive produced by Patty Jenkins, premiered in competition at Cannes. His most recent film DISC premiered at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. Named a 2025 Vimeo Breakout Creator, he also produced PRIME, selected for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Blake is currently developing his debut feature The Empty Lot.

Wendy Wang

Wendy Wang is an LA-based Asian American writer, director, and producer. Her latest short The Man Upstairs earned multiple awards including Best Thriller Short at A Night of Horror International Film Festival. She was selected for the George A. Romero Foundation Fellowship at Salem Horror Fest. Wendy’s producer credits include the feature Peacefully Conflicted and award-winning shorts executive produced by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Stephen Venezia

Stephen is a master of movement, known for transforming static visuals into dynamic storytelling through his unique and inventive transitions. With a background in New York’s fast-paced post-production world, he has collaborated with top agencies and clients across fashion, music videos, docu-style narratives, and national commercials. Stephen’s editorial philosophy revolves around pushing the boundaries of what’s possible — approaching each project as both an explorer and a perfectionist, eager to uncover the elements that can elevate a piece.

Dan Giraldo

Dan Giraldo, a native of Boca Raton, FL with Colombian and Lebanese roots, cut his teeth in the visual effects world at the highest level, working with Framestore, The Mill, and Method while compositing, supervising, and creative directing VFX.

Josalynn Smith

Josalynn Smith is a writer/director and graduate of Columbia University’s Film MFA program. They have been recognized by Sundance, SFFILM, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Their feature directorial debut Ride or Die, produced by Jamie Foxx, premiered at Tribeca 2025. Currently, they are a 2026 Fellow in the Queer Art Mentorship Program.

Morgan Evans

Morgan Evans is an Emmy-nominated writer and director based in Los Angeles. He is known for penning Merry Little Batman for Warner Bros. and writing/directing the independent comedy feature Micro Budget. He has written for Teen Titans Go!, Liza on Demand, and The Onion, and directed episodes of Earth to Ned (Disney+), The Legendary Dudas (Nickelodeon), and The Fix (Netflix).

Diego Vicentini

Diego Vicentini is a Venezuelan film writer, director, and editor. His narrative feature debut Simón was nominated at Spain’s Goya Awards, representing Venezuela. Upon its release on Netflix, the film reached the Global Top 10 for non-English-language films. Beyond its success on screen, Simón has taken on an activist role, helping raise international awareness of human rights violations in Venezuela.

Parrish Stikeleather

Parrish Stikeleather is a writer, director, and actor based in Wilmington, NC. He is currently wrapping post-production on his debut feature Long Drive To Yadkin, shot on 16mm. In front of the camera, Parrish can be seen in The Black Phone and the Showtime series George & Tammy.

Ricardo Muñoz Senior

Ricardo Muñoz Senior is a Venezuelan actor and filmmaker based in Mexico. His short films have screened across four continents at festivals including Torino Film Festival and Festival de Cine de La Habana. An Island received the Social Justice Film Audience Award at the Charlotte Film Festival. As an actor, Ricardo has worked with Netflix, Telemundo, Amazon Prime, Vix+, and Comedy Central.

Asahni Williams

Asahni Williams (he/him) is a director and screenwriter from Mobile, Alabama, whose work centers Black culture, history, and identity. His films explore the fullness of the Black experience across genres — from horror to comedy to drama — blending cultural nuance with bold visual storytelling.

Sharlin

Sharlin studied Film Directing and has always been passionate about stories that explore social issues and personal experiences. In her own films, she has explored topics such as bullying, coming out, and sexual violence. She believes film is a powerful way to reach people, spark conversations, and raise awareness around social issues that matter. She is based in Cologne, Germany.

Dr. Portia M. York

Dr. Portia M. York is a Charlotte-based fiber artist, educator, and scholar whose work explores identity, well-being, and the intersection of mathematics and fiber arts. She is the Founder of York Creative Education Group and a Fiber Arts Professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and has served as a moderator and panelist for film screenings at Independent Picture House.

Jodi Waite

Jodi Waite is a multilingual professional, certified interpreter and translator, and wine industry professional. Working in Spanish and Portuguese, she has spent years in medical, court, educational, and behavioral-health settings. Her time as a sommelier sharpened her sense of how circumstance determines whose voice gets heard. She is drawn to films that tell the truth about human experience and believes storytelling can build empathy and move people to act.

Elizabeth Rao

A recent Vimeo Breakout Creator of the Year, Elizabeth Rao’s film The Truck, executive produced by Spike Lee and Joan Chen, world premiered at Telluride Film Festival, screened at MoMA and IFC Center, and won 20 awards including Academy Award-qualifying Best Narrative Short at Florida Film Festival. She is also Gotham- and International Cinephile Society-nominated for producing and co-editing Madeline’s Madeline (Sundance, Berlinale).

Shane Chung

Shane Chung is a Korean-American filmmaker who enjoys challenging mainstream narratives around Asians and Trojan-Horsing thorny emotions into genre films. His latest short CHECK PLEASE, a martial arts comedy, screened at Fantastic Fest 2024, Fantasia Film Festival 2025, Palm Springs International Shortsfest 2025, and won Best Director at the BFI Future Film Festival 2025. Shane is currently developing it into a feature.

Matthew Amir Pourviseh

Matthew Amir Pourviseh is a NYC-based film producer behind Astronada, an award-winning production company working across film and commercial production. He also serves as Assistant Director of Production at Columbia University’s School of the Arts Film Program.

Cristina “Trinity” Vélez-Justo

Cristina “Trinity” Vélez-Justo (they/she) is a composer and sound designer through their business ReelScoring, L.L.C., and Director of Film & Media Scoring and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Georgia. They approach media music as an advocacy tool, creating narratively immersive soundscapes to generate embodied empathy for marginalized subjects on screen.