Faye Ruiz (Writer/Director) with Wishes Sink in Man-Made Lakes (U.S.A.): Two trans teens secretly living in the attic of a cheap-seat movie theater spend an endless summer trying anything and everything to start hormone replacement therapy. He is a 2020 Sundance Ignite Fellow, 2021 SFFILM Rainin Grantee, and 2022 Sundance Institute & Asian American Foundation Fellow. For 40 years, the Feature Film Program (FFP) Labs have supported and championed an exciting and groundbreaking array of independent filmmakers including Charlotte Wells (Aftersun), Nikyatu Jusu (Nanny), Tatiana Huezo (Prayers for the Stolen [Noche de Fuego]), Lyle Corbine Jr. (Wild Indian), Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Chloe Zhao (Songs My Brother Taught Me), Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats), Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl), Fernando Frias de la Parra (Im No Longer Here), Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Edson Oda (Nine Days), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Dee Rees (Pariah), Nia DaCosta (Little Woods), Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), and Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild)among many others. is an award-winning writer/director. Marja Bl Nango is a film director, screenwriter and producer. (U.S.A.): A body-positivity influencer enters a desperate bid to save her self-loathing sister when the latter becomes a test subject for their aunts plastic surgery and skin-lightening racket. Over five days, our Advisors and Fellows will be immersed in story meetings, craft workshops, and conversations that will form a foundation of year-round support and the beginning of a creative community that will last throughout the full journey of bringing these films to worldwide audiences. is a Miami-based filmmaker. The Fellows were selected from 3,200 submissions to further develop their scripts with the guidance of accomplished advisors, some of whom are alumni of the Screenwriters Lab themselves. When a mysterious woman descends on his city sermonizing about extraterrestrial salvation, he thinks reunion awaits him, unaware that this seemingly joyful deliverance will soon be threatened by a looming hurricane. is a director, screenwriter and film editor living in Tel Aviv. Zahran is a graduate of the NYU Grad Film Program. Top LR: Joseph Sackett, Sean Wang, Abinash Bikram Shah, Gabriela Ortega, Walter Thompson-Hernndez, Hadas Ayalon, Bernardo Cubria, 2nd Row LR: John Hibey, Dania Bdeir, Bane Fakih, Rashad Frett, Lin Que Ayoung, Farida Zahran, Masami Kawai, 3rd Row LR: Audrey Rosenberg, Keisha Witherspoon, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers, Shireen Alihaji, Spencer Cook, Parker Smith, Jesahel Newton-Bernal, Bottom LR: Cynthia Lowen, Rebin Zangana, David Liu, Urvashi Pathania, Ciara Leina`Ala Lacy, Faye Ruiz. Lowen is also winner of the National Poetry Series for her collection The Cloud That Contained the Lightning about the making of the atomic bomb. Set in sprawling 1970s Hawaii, this is the story of how the Aikau name became synonymous with groundbreaking big wave surfing, the Hokulea, and the reclamation of the most revered sport in Hawaiian history. is a Los Angeles-born filmmaker of Ryukyuan descent. is a Los Angeles-born and raised filmmaker. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship, supported by K Period Media Fund Foundation. Her first short, (2014) won the Student Academy Award and the Israeli. He is a 2021 Sundance Screenwriters Lab Fellow, a recipient of the 2020 Tribeca Film Institute Sloan Grant, a 2020 Cine Qua Non Lab Script Revision Lab fellowship, the Martin E. Segal Production . An Emmy Awards Finalist and recipient of the VR Grand Prize at The Venice Film Festival, her work has appeared at Sundance, SXSW, AFI Fest, Cannes NEXT, Tribeca, Telluride, and Venice. Hadas Ayalon is a director, screenwriter and film editor living in Tel Aviv. When a mysterious woman descends on his city sermonizing about extraterrestrial salvation, he thinks reunion awaits him, unaware that this seemingly joyful deliverance will soon be threatened by a looming hurricane. many years he was caretaker for Spencer Cook. Jason Fitzroy Jeffers is a filmmaker from Barbados who has produced award-winningshort films such as Papa Machete and T that have screened at festivals such asSundance Film Festival, TIFF, BlackStar, and Berlinale. When his father, Big Ant, realizes his son sees these airplane people too, their family history emerges and reveals deeper meaning and connection between them. She participated in the Gotham Project Market and Film Independents FastTrack. The Screenwriters Intensive allows us to extend the breadth of our support to a wider group of emerging independent artists, and were thrilled to include such an extensive range of stories, genres, and essential voices in the cohort, said, . Their short film Skin received a Special Jury Mention at Outfest(2019). Cracked world premiered at Tribeca and is streaming on HBO Max & Hulu. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Ashley Alvarez is a Cuban-American actress, writer, and producer. Click here to read our spring 2023 issue, featuring A.V. Were looking forward to kicking off a new year of the Screenwriters Lab, supporting the bold visions of a stellar group of storytellers. His latest short film, H.A.G.S (Have A Good Summer), was acquired by the New York Times Op-Docs. He is currently in the writers room for Acapulco on Apple TV+. She is the inaugural Sundance Merata Mita Fellow. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Comedy Fellowship. Currently, Hadi is an adjunct professor at NYUs Graduate Film Program. She wrote and co-directed Hilbes biig, which screened at nearly 30 film festivals, and The Tongues, winning four awards, three of them at Oscar Qualifying Film Festivals. Lowen is also winner of the National Poetry Series, for her collection The Cloud That Contained the Lightning about the making of the. This years Lab will also commemorate Sundances longtime creative advisor Douglas McGrath, who passed away last November. Twelve-year-old Lil Ant begins to see mysterious figureseerie men with their arms spread like wingsaround his home. After her MFA from Columbia University, Fakihreceived the Ezra Litwak Award for Screenwriting Distinction. Cynthia Lowen (Writer/Director) with Light Mass Energy (U.S.A. / Switzerland): Light Mass Energy is the story of Mileva Mari Einstein, who confronted rampant discrimination to become one of the first women in physics and an essential contributor to the theory of relativity. Alvarez has performed at the Williamstown Theater Festival, Womens Project, INTAR, and Miami New Drama. Her film Cracked won The Spike Lee Production Grant and a King Wasserman Award for Best Graduate Film at NYUs First Run Festival. Michael Len is a Cuban-American writer/director. As music unlocks memories, Amina discovers who she is. Cynthia Lowen (Writer/Director) with Light Mass Energy (U.S.A. / Switzerland): Light Mass Energy is the story of Mileva Mari Einstein, who confronted rampant discrimination to become one of the first women in physics and an essential contributor to the theory of relativity. s work as a screenwriter and director is supported by the Sundance Institute, SFFILM, IFP/Gotham, ARRAY, Visual Communications, and CAPE. A USC film school alumnus and native of the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles, DavidLius work as a screenwriter and director is supported by the Sundance Institute,SFFILM, IFP/Gotham, ARRAY, Visual Communications, and CAPE. Lab and Intensive participants were selected from over 2000 submissio . His short film If I Go Will They Miss Me won the 2022 Sundance U.S. Fiction Short Film award, and hes currently in post-production on his first feature. Rebin Zangana (Writer) with Qareen (U.S.A.): Haunted by a supernatural force, a Kurdish American man struggles to start a new life with his American fiancee while dealing with the reappearance of his estranged father. PARK CITY, UTAH, January 13, 2023 Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the 12 projects invited to the 2023 Screenwriters Lab and the 10 projects selected for the Screenwriters Intensive, including filmmakers from the U.S.A. and internationally from the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Nepal. is a First Gen, Ecuadorian-Iranian, Muslim, and disabled filmmaker. Hes currently in post on his horror short film, TheMan in the Sky Wont Let Me Sleep. After being written up in Variety and Cahiers Du Cinema, Filmmaker Magazine named Sora one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship, supported by K Period Media Fund Foundation. Her intersections inspire her to create space through film technologies. She is the inaugural Sundance Merata Mita Fellow. It does not store any personal identifiable information. Sean Wang is a filmmaker from Fremont, CA. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from each other and Sundance Advisors, and connect in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. Newly released after being locked up in his teens, 30-year-old Ricky navigates the challenging realities of life post-incarceration, and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult. (Nepal/France): In Nepal, a group of trans women have banded together at the margins of their community, patrolling the village to keep wild elephants at bay. London, England, United Kingdom . (U.S.A.): In the wake of 9/11, a First-Gen Muslim teenager discovers her mothers cassette tapes. el): A middle-aged lesbian couple are struggling with the death of their son when an unexpected letter from a sperm bank puts their relationship to the test, forcing them to confront their loss and their identity as mothers. Through intimate portraits, animated films, immersive installations, and multi-year community based projects, she explores the potential inherent within the creative process to act as a catalyst for social change and interpersonal healing. Spencer Cook (Co-writer/Director) and Parker Smith (Co-riter/Director) with Lame (U.S.A.): When their federal funding is cut, a disabled man and his roommate/caregiver become small-time con artists to survive, extorting small businesses for minor ADA violations. Other. Rockwell (A Thousand and One) in conversation with Chinonye Chukwu, our annual spotlight on location shooting and more by Filmmaker Staff in Festivals & Events This cohort of artists from traditionally underrepresented communities will have . (Lebanon/Canada/France): Rana, a feisty & competitive woman avoiding a secret from her past, becomes obsessed with the male-dominated pigeon wars of Beirut. Newton-Bernal strives to use film as a means of collaborative social change, to. She befriends Hassan, a kindred spirit with an inner struggle of his own, and against the backdrop of growing political crisis in Beirut, they embark on a mission to catch a rare bird the Nicobar. Marja Bl Nango (Co-writer/Director) and Ingir Bl Nango (Co-writer) with I Love My Guooheaddji / I Love My Reindeerherder (Norway, Sweden): A closeted gay Smi boy navigates a secret boyfriend, a local criminal plot, and family drama as he tries to achieve his dream of living as a reindeer herder with his own herding license. Cubria is the co-writer of Kill YrIdols, with Carlos Lpez Estrada attached to direct, and the writer of Like It Used ToBe, with Gina Rodriguez to direct and star. Shes the, (Netflix/PBS). She is currently working towards developing her first featurefilm. All Rights Reserved. Cynthia Lowen is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and writer. Her short film, Festival and screened in select theaters nationally before Jordan Peeles. The projects and fellows selected for the 2022 January Screenwriters Lab are: Eliza McNitt (Writer/Director) with BLACK HOLE (U.S.A.): At a pivotal moment in both her career and her complicated relationship with her mother, an astrophysicists universe unravels when she encounters a black hole of her own creation. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapib. Rashad Frett is an award-winning Caribbean American filmmaker who pursued a masters degree from NYU Grad Film after experiencing 9/11 as a U.S. Army combat medic. He has written films that have premiered in Berlinale and Venice and. is a writer/director based in Brooklyn. Here was my step-by-step approach to getting selected for the lab: Get rejected from the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. (U.S.A.): After a fatal mistake makes her the pariah of her insular and devout 19th century farming community, Frances becomes consumed with hunting down a mythic beast, at the cost of her familys reputation and safety. Her films have screened at festivals including Sundance and Berlinale. Abinash Bikram Shah is an award-winning writer/director based in Nepal. His films, have won many awards, including a Special Jury Mention at Cannes in 2022 for his, . Parker Smith is a filmmaker based in Austin, Texas, originally from Louisville, Kentucky. Zandash Brown (Writer/Director) with The Matriarch (U.S.A.): When the death of an estranged matriarch summons a fractured family back to their hometown in rural Louisiana, a forlorn teen attempts to forge a relationship with her departed grandmother through ancestral veneration and unlocks instead a deceptive world of spirits, secrecy, and hysteria. Bane Fakih is a Lebanese filmmaker whose shorts Assil and Jad and Vibes screened at Palm Springs ShortsFest and Outfest. David Liu (Writer/Director) with Santa Anita (U.S.A.): Summer, 2004. Cuarn is a longtime Sundance Institute alum, attending our 1993 Mexican Screenwriters Lab with his project Strawberry Kiss; screening multiple films at the Festival, including Y Tu Mam Tambin; and serving as a creative advisor during the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and as a juror for the Festival. Sundance Institute has supported and showcased such projects as, Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), CODA, Flee, Passing, Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Wont You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, City So Real, Top of the Lake, Between the World & Me, Wild Goose Dreams, Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Kayla Abuda Galang, the Writer-Director of When You Left Me On That Boulevard, Get an Inside Look at Vuk Lungulov-Klotzs Journey Through Sundance Institutes Feature Film Development Track, Meet the Sundance Institute2023 Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Lab Fellows. Over five days, our Advisors and Fellows will be immersed in story meetings, craft workshops, and conversations that will form a foundation of year-round support and the beginning of a creative community that will last throughout the full journey of bringing these films to worldwide audiences. is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and writer. Gabriela Ortega is a multi-disciplinary artist from the Dominican Republic. Bane Fakih is a Lebanese filmmaker whose shorts Assil and Jad and Vibes screened at Palm Springs ShortsFest and Outfest. The projects and fellows selected for the 2023 Screenwriters Intensive are: Keisha Rae Witherspoon (Co-writer/Director) & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Co-writer) with Arc (U.S.A.): Ev is a paranoid young hustler who believes his mother was abducted by aliens when he was a boy. John Hibey co-wrote and produced the two-time Sundance award-winning film FishingWithout Nets (short and feature versions.) Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Hershort Unmothered is available on HBOMax. (written and directed by Sophie Barthes), which is the 2023 recipient of the Institutes Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. All of their work has the power to impact audiences through their unique voices, personal perspectives and exciting and unheard stories, said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Sundance Institutes Artist Programs. One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. He writes horror and comedyfeaturing immigrant leads. Pigeon Wars willbe her debut feature. Lab and Intensive participants were selected from over 2000 submissio, ns to further develop their scripts with the guidance of accomplished advisors under the leadership of, (Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institutes Artist Programs) and, The January Screenwriters Lab cohort will develop their projects in person at the Sundance Mountain Resort from January 14-18 with the generous support of Artistic Director. and hes currently in post-production on his first feature. When her young son develops an unexpected bond with the flocks scout bird, both mother and son must contend with the complex emotional fallout of their shared loss. Her short Unmothered is available on HBOMax. She is the inaugural Sundance Merata Mita Fellow. Joshua Penn Soskin is an award-winning director, writer and photographer. Today we are. (U.S.A.): Twelve-year-old Lil Ant begins to see mysterious figureseerie men with their arms spread like wingsaround his home. premiered at Tribeca and is streaming on HBO Max & Hulu. is a writer, director, and lifelong wheelchair user. He is a documentary director of films and various series at Amazon, HBO and CNN. Hes a recipient of a DGA Student Film Award, a Spike Lee Production Grant, the Cary Fukunaga Production Grant, and Ryan Murphys HALF Initiative. She is a Sundance Interdisciplinary Program and Academy of Motion Pictures fellow, and is one of Filmmaker Magazines 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Shireen Alihaji is a First Gen, Ecuadorian-Iranian, Muslim, and disabled filmmaker. Bernardo Cubra is a Mexican award-winning screenwriter and playwright. Wasserman Award for Best Graduate Film at NYUs First Run Festival. Faye Ruiz (Writer/Director) with Wishes Sink in Man-Made Lakes (U.S.A.): Two trans teens secretly living in the attic of a cheap-seat movie theater spend an endless summer trying anything and everything to start hormone replacement therapy. , a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from each other and Sundance Advisors, and connect in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. Installed by the Revive Ad Server. Shireen Alihaji is a First Gen, Ecuadorian-Iranian, Muslim, and disabled filmmaker. Rebin Zangana is a Kurdish American writer from Ohio. He is currently working with director Carlos, , and is developing a project for Warner Brothers with, is an award-winning director, writer and photographer. If they want to survive, theyll need to learn how to make their own magic. Lab fellows will develop their projects in-person at the Sundance Mountain Resort from January 14-18 with the support of Artistic Director Jessie Nelson. He is also co-founder of Third. When Lungulov-Klotz applied, The heart of Sundance Institutes work begins with our labs each spring/summer and continues year-round with the nurturing of diverse, dynamic voices. Were looking forward to kicking off a new year of the Screenwriters Lab, supporting the bold visions of a stellar group of storytellers. When a mysterious woman descends on his city sermonizing about extraterrestrial salvation, he thinks reunion awaits him, unaware that this seemingly joyful deliverance will soon be threatened by a looming hurricane. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the fellows for the 2023 Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. His work has placed at Los Angeles CineFest, Filmmatic, and Austin Film Festival, among others. Douglas was an Advisor to over 200 writers in his twenty years participating in the Lab. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapib. She is co-founder of Third Horizon Film Festival, and a 2022 USA Fellow. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. He was named one of Filmmaker Magazines 25 New Faces of Independent Film and was a 2022 Martha MOCA Resident. (Nepal/France): In Nepal, a group of trans women have banded together at the margins of their community, patrolling the village to keep wild elephants at bay. Sign Up In the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family cant teach him: how to skate, how to flirt and how to love your mom. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. David Liu (Writer/Director) with Santa Anita (U.S.A.): Summer, 2004. (France): The fates of two French-born Muslim Arabs born in the same neighborhood collide as they find themselves on opposite sides of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack: one a police officer, the other a terrorist. In addition, screening in the Premieres section are FFP films Gods Country and Honk for Jesus. DEADLINE: May 15 2023 The Development Track application allows an artist's work-in-progress fiction feature screenplay to be considered for several programs, fellowships, and grants. They find forgotten memories, love, and connection through this seemingly obsolete object. Farida Zahran (Writer/Director) with The Leftover Ladies (Egypt/U.S.A. Native Lab participants will include Eva Grant (Degrees of . He has written films that have premiered in Berlinale and Venice andwere Nepals official entry for the Academy Awards. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Strange, interconnected events transform three generations of lives in the Southern California foothills an aging heiress haunted by visions of her dead mother, an aspiring young female novelist running a video game arcade, and a trio of teenage musicians caught in an increasingly tense dispute between local gangs. (U.S.A.): In this queer sci-fi rom-com, an alien arrives on Earth with one mission: to introduce his DNA into the human gene pool and propagate his species. Several of the 2023 fellows have appeared on our annual 25 New Faces of Film list, including Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernndez (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Keisha Rae Witherspoon (Arc) and Faye Ruiz (Wishes Sink in Man-Made Lakes). Her films explore gender. His first feature. EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent on Wednesday named the eight screenwriters set for the 25th edition of their Screenwriting Lab. His first feature, Homebody, won the Emerging Talent Award at Outfest and is available to stream on Fandor. By Mia Galuppo Film Writer The Sundance Institute has announced the participants in . This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Bernardo Cubra (Co-writer), John Hibey (Co-writer), & Joshua Penn Soskin (Co-writer, not attending) with Kill Yr Idols (U.S.A.): In the Rio Grande Valley, just north of the Mexico/US border, the friendship of two teenage boys is tested as they embark on a whirlwind punk rock odyssey to escape their realities and seize their dreams. Lin Que Ayoung is an award-winning writer/director/producer and graduate of NYU Grad Film. Walter Thompson-Hernndez (Writer/Director) with If I Go Will They Miss Me (U.S.A.): Twelve-year-old Lil Ant begins to see mysterious figureseerie men with their arms spread like wingsaround his home. Newly Expanded Advisor Roster Spans Filmmaking Disciplines Los Angeles, CA -- 11 independent filmmakers developing 10 projects have been selected for the 2020 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs, reimagined and expressed digitally this year on Sundance Co//ab. were Nepals official entry for the Academy Awards. ): A 60-something woman has her life turned upside down when her polygamous husband, who had been happily ensconced with his second wife, unexpectedly expresses a renewed interest in their stale relationship. Find the full list of Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive fellows below. Omar Mullick directed the feature non-fiction film These Birds Walk, which was theatrically distributed by Oscilloscope. . The 2023 Sundance Film Festival will present the world premieres of seven Feature Film Program supported projects that include: birth/rebirth (co-written/directed by Laura Moss, co-written by Brendan OBrien), Cassandro (co-written/directed by Roger Ross Williams, co-written by David Teague), Fancy Dance (co-written/directed by Erica Tremblay, co-written by Miciana Alise), Mutt (written and directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz), The Starling Girl (written and directed by Laurel Parmet), A Thousand and One (written and directed by A.V. 2023 Filmmaker Magazine. Her films have screened at, various venues, including the Rotterdam Film Festival, LACMA, and Palm Springs. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was executive produced by Spike Lee, Spike Jonze, Riz Ahmed, and Alma Harel. Her work drawscultural bridges that lead to the Caribbean through intersectionality, duality andancestral memory. All of their work has the power to impact audiences through their unique voices, personal perspectives and exciting and unheard stories, said. She was a recipient of Sundances 2021 Uprise Grant, one of Filmmaker, Magazines 2021 New Faces and had her recent short film. (U.S.A.): In the wake of 9/11, a First-Gen Muslim teenager discovers her mothers cassette tapes. Rosenberg has written for television while developing Wild Animals in several residencies. In the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family cant teach him: how to skate, how to flirt and how to love your mom. Meanwhile, the Screenwriters Intensive will take place remotely in the form of a two-day online workshop from March 2-3, in which the fellows will develop their fiction feature debuts. Walter worked as a journalist for The New York Times. Walter Thompson-Hernndez (Writer/Director) with If I Go Will They Miss Me (U.S.A.): Twelve-year-old Lil Ant begins to see mysterious figureseerie men with their arms spread like wingsaround his home. An award-winning playwright, . The projects selected for the 2023 January Screenwriters Lab and the artists participating are: Joseph Sackett (Writer/Director) with Cross Pollination (U.S.A.): In this queer sci-fi rom-com, an alien arrives on Earth with one mission: to introduce his DNA into the human gene pool and propagate his species. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship, supported by K Period Media Fund Foundation. His first feature, Homebody, won the Emerging Talent Award at Outfest and is available to stream on Fandor. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Comedy Fellowship. Gabriela Ortega is a multi-disciplinary artist from the Dominican Republic. (U.S.A.): When their federal funding is cut, a disabled man and his roommate/caregiver become small-time con artists to survive, extorting small businesses for minor ADA violations. Joshua Penn Soskin is an award-winning director, writer and photographer. She is co-founder of Third Horizon Film Festival, and a, is a filmmaker from Barbados who has produced award-winning, Sundance Film Festival, TIFF, BlackStar, and Berlinale. Walter Thompson-Hernndez is a Los Angeles-born and raised filmmaker. Her films explore gender, sexuality, and cultural bereavement. Given how we, remember is pivotal to healing, her films use memory as a central gaze to de-internalize. In this queer sci-fi rom-com, an alien arrives on Earth with one mission: to introduce his DNA into the human gene pool and propagate his species. The fellows come from both the U.S. and abroad, with participants hailing from the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Nepal. His short film THE CHICKEN premiered at the 2020 Locarno International Film Festival. (U.S.A.): Eighteen-year-old Almas purposeful and happy life is disrupted when she must cope with the shock of intrafamily sexual abuse. Farida Zahran is an Egyptian writer/director based in Brooklyn. Fremont, CA. (U.S.A.): Summer, 2004. Cubria is the co-writer of Kill Yr Idols, with Carlos Lpez Estrada attached to direct, and the writer of Like It Used To Be, with Gina Rodriguez to direct and star. Dania Bdeir is a Lebanese director with an MFA in film from NYU Tisch.