Meet The 2024 Jury

Amanda Willoughby is a multifaceted artist hailing from Memphis, Tennessee. After graduating from Memphis College of Art in 2012 she honed a diverse skill set spanning filmmaking, visual arts, and youth mentorship; making an indelible mark on her community. As the Youth Mentor Program Coordinator and Black Creators Forum Producer for Indie Memphis Film Festival, Amanda plays a pivotal role in fostering diversity and inclusivity in the film industry. Her efforts have led to the elevation of underrepresented voices, creating platforms for creators to shine.

Raul Benitez (he/him) is a Latino film programmer in Chicago for over 15 years. For Full Spectrum Features Raul programs the Chicagoland Short Series. Raul also is the Senior Programmer at the Midwest Film Festival, and the After Dark and shorts programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival. Raul also programs at Comfort Station Logan Square, Chicago Underground Film Festival, and the Nightingale Cinema. Raul has been named a Chicago Film gem by New City Chicago for 2015,17,19 and in 2023 Raul was inducted to the Film Gem Hall of Fame. Raul was also named an Esteemed Artist by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and received a DCASE grant for his Chicago/Mexico City Filmmaker exchange program. Raul is on the board of the Chicago Film Society and Chicago Filmmakers.

Gerardo Coello is a Mexican filmmaker based in CDMX and New York City. Gerardo has been the 1st Assistant Director on feature films, such as Shiva Baby, Dating and New York, and Reality. He was an Assistant Director on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Bardo, and served as the 2nd Unit Director on horror film Presencias. He has been a Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Fellow in 2019, and his short film Viaje de Negocios premiered in competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Linh Tran (b.1994) is a Vietnamese filmmaker residing in Chicago, IL. Linh’s narrative works explore memories of childhood and early adulthood. Her short films have been selected by various film festivals worldwide and her debut feature film “Waiting for the Light to Change” took the Narrative Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival.

Megan Leonard is an award-winning Creative Producer and Festival Programmer based in Seattle, WA. She is a Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab alumni, and her projects have premiered at top-tier festivals around the globe, including Sundance, SXSW and Fantasia.

Leonard started working for film festivals in 2010 and currently leads the New American Cinema and ShortsFest teams at the Seattle International Film Festival. She has also programmed for Indie Memphis and DOC NYC, and served on juries at Fantastic Fest, Cleveland International Film Festival and Palm Springs ShortFest.

Karina Dandashi is an Arab-American Muslim filmmaker born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Her films explore nuances in identity through the intersection of family, religion, and culture in Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) and Muslim communities in America. Her work has been featured in numerous Oscar-Qualifying festivals around the U.S. Karina was a 2020 Creative Culture Fellow and a 2021 Sundance Ignite Fellow. She was featured in Marie Claire’s inaugural Creators Issue as one of the “Top 21 Creators to Watch'' in 2022. Her feature film debut, OUT OF WATER, was chosen for the 2023 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab. You can find her latest short film COUSINS on The New Yorker’s Screening Room.

Sarah Botstein has produced some of the most popular and acclaimed documentaries on PBS. Her work with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick includes, Jazz (2001), The War (2007), Prohibition (2011), The Vietnam War (2017), College Behind Bars (2019), and Hemingway (2020). The U.S. and the Holocaust (2022) marked Botstein’s debut as a co-director. She is currently co-directing and producing, along with Burns and David Schmidt, a six-part, 12-hour series, The American Revolution, which will premiere on PBS in the fall of 2025, and a three-part film on the life and presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, set to air in 2028.

In addition to these television broadcasts, Botstein is an original contributor to Ken Burns UNUM, a web-based platform that highlights historical themes across the Florentine Films body of work. Botstein works closely with PBS Learning Media and WETA-TV to develop educational content for programming as part of the Ken Burns Classroom.

Gabriela Ortega is an award-winning writer/director and actor from the Dominican Republic. She is a USC graduate, a Sundance labs alum, and an Academy of Motion Pictures fellow. Her award-winning short film Huella, was an official selection of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and is being turned into a feature film after being supported by the Sundance labs and the Cine Qua Non residency. She is also developing Piratas, a Spanish language feature film to be shot in the Dominican Republic, which received the 2023 Rainin Grant. Gabriela was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2022 and in 2023 as one of the winners of the annual Young Guns competition.

Her film, Beautiful, FL, produced through the Disney Launchpad program, is available on Disney+, and her first film, “PAPI'' is available to stream on HBO. Most recently, she directed a limited documentary series for Peacock and Sephora titled “The Foundation of Belleza” available now. Her work lives within the intersection of fiction and poetry and aims to draw cultural bridges that lead to the Caribbean.

Andy is the Senior Film Programmer at the Austin Film Festival and a versatile, DIY filmmaker. As Senior Film Programmer, Andy facilitates industry partnerships with studios and distributors to build AFF's premiere Marquee program, as well as moderate conversations with filmmakers like Rian Johnson, Cord Jefferson, and Lena Headey. In addition, Andy focuses on features programming and fostering career opportunities for AFF filmmakers through creative initiatives and fellowship programs.

His documentary work "Coffee & Sugar" and "Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story" (Dir. Aaron Bear) have screened around the globe at festivals like Seattle International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Loft Film Fest, Manchester Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and NFFTY. "Yes I Am" was recently nominated for Special Recognition at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards. As a writer, Andy's short horror script "Rebirth" was a Finalist at Hollyshorts Film Festival and attracted the attention of UK-based company Hawk Bells. Andy is a frequent writer for Austin-based Hyperreal Film Club and in development on a handful of shorts and music videos.

Donald Young is the Center for Asian American Media’s Director of Programs. He oversees CAAM’s program areas, and specifically develops and implements CAAM’s national productions and national PBS strategies. In public television, Donald has supervised the national broadcasts of over 150 award-winning projects. As a producer, he has worked both in documentaries and independent feature films. Key projects include the epic five-hour PBS history series Asian Americans, a co-production with WETA and produced by Renee Tajima-Peña; Family Pictures, USA by Thomas Allen Harris; and a feature film adaptation of Chang-rae Lee’s Coming Home Again directed by Wayne Wang.

Anuradha Rana is an independent filmmaker and educator based in Chicago. Born and raised in India, her immigrant roots create the lens of a curious interloper at the heart of her films, where everyday characters push conventional boundaries. Her work has been supported by Kartemquin Films, TFI, If/Then, PBS, DOC NYC, IL Arts Council, DCASE, CAAM, American Institute for Indian Studies, Chicago International Film Festival, Full Spectrum Features, and Depaul Humanities Center. She is on the steering committee for A-DOC, was named one of Chicago’s 50 Screen Gems in 2019, a DCASE esteemed artist, and DOC NYC’s Documentary New Leader in 2021.

Valeriya is a Ukrainian cinematographer, documentary filmmaker and educator. She started out in journalism working for Ukraine’s English language newspaper KyivPost. Later she acquired hands-on experience in filmmaking during her studies at New York University Abu Dhabi majoring in Film & New Media. In 2020, she received an MFA in Film at Victoria University of Wellington.

Valeriya’s creative interest lies in the intersection of photography, writing and documentary based projects that reveal personal narratives and complicate official stories with fixed perspectives. She has directed short documentaries and video installations, and worked as a cinematographer on more than a dozen narrative and documentary shorts. Her work has been screened in over 30 countries from Japan to Argentina, and awarded the Grand Jury Award for Best Doc in Guam, Best Short Doc in Reykjavik, Asian Cinematography Award Best Short Doc (Our Love), Best Short Doc at NFFTY in Seattle. Valeriya currently works as a Film Arts Instructor at New York University Abu Dhabi.

Pilar Garcia-Fernandezsesma is a freelance director, animator, and fine artist from and based in New York. She is a RISD animation alumnus, a Glas and Jerome grant recipient, and a Student Academy Award gold medalist for her film “Ciervo”. Outside of her commercial work, she makes a variety of short films ranging in style and genre, some of which have been shown at festivals such as Slamdance, Annecy, RIIFF, Animest, and Animafest Zagreb. Pilar primarily works with 2D cel animation and often uses mixed media elements in her films by combining traditional and digital techniques. As a whole, her work ranges from fiction and fantastical to poetic and metaphorical, and often deals with human interpersonal dynamics paired with themes of womanhood, family, and our relationship to the natural world.

Kris Theorin is the man behind Something’s Awry Productions' kinetic animation and unique visual styles. Working as an all-in-one animator, director, editor, sound designer, and VFX guru, Kris has created spots for Disney, Warner Bros, LEGO, NBC/Universal, and many others. After starting his career in stop-motion, Kris has transitioned into 3D Animation and his work can now be seen in movie theaters, TVs, and film festivals worldwide.

Amos Sussigan, a Swiss director and production designer based in Los Angeles. His heartfelt animated shorts, including "Broken Wing" and "Swan Cake," garnered international acclaim at over 40 film festivals, with six Academy Award qualifications. Notably, he co-produced "Aria for a Cow," earning an Academy Award qualification in 2015, and his latest short "COASTER" also qualified in 2020. Transitioning from visual development on Ryan Coogler's "Space Jam: A New Legacy," Amos now works as the production designer for Andy Serkis' "Animal Farm." He worked for studios such as The Walt Disney Company, Paramount, FOX, Dreamworks, Netflix and he's a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Tala Rae Schlossberg is an animator and video producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her experimental video work focuses on the intersection of the physical and the digital, with an emphasis on capturing the beauty in the mundane. Schlossberg’s commercial and editorial work includes narrative shorts, experimental videos and data visualizations for clients including Patagonia, Planned Parenthood, MoMA, The Nature Conservancy and the New York Times, where she previously worked as an animator and video producer for the newspaper’s Opinion Video section. In 2022, Schlossberg co-founded the woman-owned studio Two Toes Creative, which strives to embrace the absurd and wonderfully unexplainable parts of human existence. Schlossberg experiments in a wide variety of mediums – she regularly scores her visual work with original compositions, produces an independent magazine called “The Eliditarian” and is currently working on a collection of short fiction.

Erika Gomi currently works in production at Paramount Animation and was previously at Cartoon Network Studios. Originally from the Bay Area, she now resides in Los Angeles where she likes to find free food and explore new neighborhoods.

Born in the Netherlands, Wilbert Plijnaar sold his first batch of stories to the Dutch Disney magazine at age16. He then co-wrote one of the longest running comic strip series in The Netherlands: "Sjors & Sjimmie"- which appears to this date and has been published in over 50 books- and a comic for girls called "Claire". 17 books appeared of this series. At the same time he worked in as an illustrator in advertising where he conceptualized and directed a bunch of animated commercials. In 1995 his entire work in comics was awarded the prestigious Dutch 'Stripschap' Prize. In that same year Wilbert moved to Los Angeles on invitation by Warner Bros, where he spent the last 25 years as a story artist at Dreamworks and Disney a.o. for successful animation films such as the Ice Age movies, Jimmy Neutron, Disney's "Princess and the Frog", Despicable Me 1 and 2 , The Minion Movie, Secret Life of Pets, The Grinch and many, many more.

Jill Louise Busby is a writer, trainer, and filmmaker who fearlessly dissects and challenges the status quo. She has spent years in the nonprofit sector specializing in Equity and Inclusion. She has spoken at academic institutions, businesses, and detention centers on the topics of Identity and Power and delivered hundreds of workshops to nonprofit organizations all over the country. With a keen eye for unveiling the layers of personal and societal hierarchies, Jill’s creative journey is driven by her belief in dismantling limiting narratives. Through her thought-provoking work, she playfully pushes audiences beyond their comfort zones, encouraging them to explore genuine freedom within the realm of truth.

Sam Flancher is a film programmer who has worked in Chicago for over a decade. He currently works programming international feature films for the Chicago International Film Festival after spending five years at the head of their short film program. He has served on film juries both nationally and internationally, and was named one of Newcity's Film 50 in both 2019 and 2022.

Justice Jamal Jones, is a multidisciplinary artist. Justice is a filmmaker, actor, and writer based in New York City. They have worked in production, creative direction, styling and as talent at Disney on Broadway, Vogue Italia, Paper Magazine, and Maybelline New York.

Lauren Jevnikar is an LA-based director & editor interested in intimacy, vulnerability, and the body. Their work has screened internationally in over 7 countries; their last short “Half-Light” won Best Directing at NFFTY in 2023 and went on to screen at HollyShorts ’23 & additional festivals. As an editor, they’ve cut work for clients such as: Snoop Dogg, the NFL & Super Bowl, Coachella, Lowes, and more, and had projects screen in multiple Oscar-qualifiers. They were a 2021 Top 10 Finalist for the Horizon Award for Emerging Female Filmmakers and worked as a show editor on the 2022 NAACP Image Award-winning docu-series “Daring Simone” starring Simone Biles. They hold a BFA in Film from Syracuse University and have additionally studied at FAMU International in Prague CZ.

Kourtney Jackson is a Toronto-based filmmaker and lens-based artist. Her artistic practice employs hybridized and experimental forms of storytelling that permeate interiorities of Black queer womanhood. In lieu of “representation” as a means for legibility, her work endeavours toward a repatriation of the self through somatic, spiritual, and ecological sensibilities. Her award-winning films have screened locally and internationally at festivals including TIFF Next Wave (Toronto), BlackStar Film Festival (Philadelphia), Sundance Film Festival, Ignite x Adobe (Utah), and the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (Montréal).

Greg is the Artistic Director for Heartland Film and its Academy Award®-qualifying Indy Shorts and Heartland Film Festival events in Indianapolis and is also Senior Associate Programmer with the Tribeca Festival shorts team. Greg regularly serves as a festival jury member, industry panelist, and grant reader including recent engagements with Stage 32, IDA, and the NEA. Greg was recently honored with the Spirit of Windrider Award at the 2024 Windrider Summit at Sundance.

Champ Ensminger is a Thai American filmmaker born in Chiang Mai and raised in Spokane. Since earning an audience award for Experimental Short at NFFTY 2011, his work has spanned documentary shorts, music videos, and commercials. His recent documentary short film YAI NIN was shown at Seattle Asian American Film Festival, NOWNESS ASIA, and Alaska Airlines. He was part of the production team as an editor at World Famous for 7 years in Seattle, creating content for brands like T-Mobile, Microsoft, and Amazon. He is currently serving on the Seattle Film Commission representing post-production, as well as developing future projects as part of the Washington Filmworks Above the Line Workforce Development Cohort.

Andrew Franks is a Seattle based director, editor, and cinematographer driven to capture the nuance of human narrative on film. Whether he is creating a feature documentary on an artist's career, following a biker gang, or on an expedition to summit Kilimanjaro, Andrew's vision carries through each step of the filmmaking process. Andrew grew up on a small island where at the age of 10 he picked up his parent's video camera and his love for film was born.

Christian first developed an interest in filmmaking in middle school when he discovered his parents' old digital camcorder and a copy of Windows Movie Maker on the family computer. Those early skate videos, Jackass recreations, and attempts at storytelling eventually blossomed into a career in the commercial, documentary, and music video worlds. Today, Christian works as a freelance editor and director, having co-directed over a dozen music videos through his partnership OVERLAY, and edited documentaries for Universal Music, MLS, & Apple TV, as well as branded content for clients like Nike, Adidas, & Beats by Dre.

Michael is the Post-Producer for GreenLight Media & Marketing, a full-service creative agency and studio within Live Nation Entertainment’s network. He’s also one half of the directing partnership OVERLAY.

Ayinde Anderson is an award-winning cinematographer whose work spans feature films, Episodic fiction, commercials, and music videos. Although he thrives on being versatile, Ayinde has also developed a distinct style of his own. Whether the production is large or small, he looks for two things: creators who are pursuing a fresh worldview and way of presenting a story, and a handpicked crew who share his work-ethic and sense of commitment.

Christina Xing is an award-winning Asian American director based in Los Angeles and New York. Her story-driven approach creates honest moments in every film, and as a young person directing young people, she is uniquely able to coax strong, authentic performances that resonate with the intended audience. All of this is underscored by her distinctive style, which infuses saturated youthful visions of surreal dreamscapes with nostalgic memories that put the viewer right in the center of the action. Christina’s experience creating viral content runs deep. It started early in her career when she directed a musical featurette that went viral on Twitter in Thailand. This led her down a path that caught the attention of brands like Vaseline, VANS, Tinder, Snapchat, and Crayola. She went viral again with her music video for “Claud – Wish You Were Gay,” which led her to work with every single major music label along with musicians like Hayley Williams, Tessa Violet, Lewis Del Mar, Fiji Blue, SHAED, and Awsten Knight.

Most recently, she directed the music video for the viral TikTok song, “Space Girl” by Frances Forever – currently at 3M views on YouTube. Raised in Alabama and now based in Los Angeles, Christina works to create a fun, accepting dynamic on set, and approaches agency and client relationships with a collaborative spirit. She strives to make Cassavetes for people of color. She also strives to keep her nose clean and to eat more veggies.

Abena is a multi award-winning director and writer working across film, tv and advertising. She loves coming of age stories, fantasy and the heroine's journey. Abena has broadcast credits on Sky Arts, E4 and Hulu and has worked with brands such as British Vogue. She wrote on the BAFTA award-winning E4 series, How to Be a Person; on the Hulu series, Spellbound and Assistant Script Edited Nautilus S2 for Disney+.

Sean and Ryan McIlraith are brothers and filmmakers based out of New York City. Hailing from a hearty family of six children, the duo found a mutual interest in film and storytelling. They were each individually nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for their producing and editing work on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE where they worked for over seven seasons in the show’s Film Unit.

Their other credits include PLEASE DON'T DESTROY: THE TREASURE OF FOGGY MOUNTAIN (Universal/Apatow Feature), THE ERIC ANDRE SHOW (Adult Swim), IT'S BRUNO! (Netflix), MATT ROGERS: HAVE YOU HEARD OF CHRISTMAS? (Showtime), THAT'S MY TIME WITH DAVID LETTERMAN (Netflix), and a multitude of commercials and other Film and Television projects.

Claire Gostin is a writer and director from Gig Harbor, Washington. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California and is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a major in Film and Television Production. Claire’s work has screened at many prestigious festivals including NFFTY (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), Urbanworld, and Austin Film Festival, among others. Her work has been featured on platforms such as Directors Notes, Beyond the Short, Jubilee Media, and DUST, and has been viewed over 50 million times online. Her most recent short script, which wrapped production in September 2023, won the Best Screenplay award at NFFTY 2023. She is currently developing a feature that was a second-rounder at both the 2023 Austin Film Festival and the 2024 Sundance Development Track. When not working on her own projects, Claire has assisted a number of esteemed filmmakers, including the writer/director duo of Missing, the sequel to the 2018 Sony Pictures movie Searching. Currently, she works as an assistant to the producer of Crazy Rich Asians and Hell or High Water.

Writer and story editor Kat Montagu is the Head of Department for the Vancouver Film School Writing for Film, Television and Games program. Kat has taught screenwriting for over twenty years. Her Career Launch class has prepared countless VFS graduates to work on feature films, in the writers rooms of TV series, and in video game studios. Her students rave about her enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge, and the high standards she inspires. It’s no surprise that she’s been named a VFS Instructor of the Year three times.

Lily is a Japanese American filmmaker from Boise, ID. She has spent the last five years working in nonprofit arts management, and has chaired Boise Contemporary Theater’s BIPOC Playwright’s Festival since its launch in 2021. She previously served as the Festival Manager for Slamdance Film Festival. She wrote, produced and starred in her first feature film LIKE LOVE at age 21, which screened at festivals across the US and UK, and recently made her directorial debut with the short film NICE GUY. Although she wears many hats, writing is her preferred medium. She currently resides in Chicago with her partner and cat.