Aisha Jamal is a documentary filmmaker and film programmer. She programs Canadian films at Hot Docs Documentary Festival and previously worked for TIFF and Syria Film Festival Toronto, amongst others. Her feature documentary “A Kandahar Away” is now screening on CBC Gem and playing on Canadian television. She recently completed a documentary web series on emerging alternative death industries entitled “How We Die”. Aisha is currently in development on her second feature documentary on art repatriation and museum culture.

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Filmography: 

• “Field Notes”, 2023, Director/Producer/Writer
• “A Kandahar Away”, 2019, Director/Writer
• “The Long Way Home”, 2017, Director/Co-Producer

Born and raised in Hong Kong. After her graduation from the University of Hong Kong in French and German, she worked at Ying E Chi, an independent film organisation from Hong Kong. In 2017, she moved to Berlin for her MA in Cultural Studies (Humboldt Universität) with a focus on political philosophy and Hong Kong's colonial history. During her stay in Berlin, she curated two film festivals: the Berlin Hong Kong Independent Film Festival (2019) and Voices of the Ground: Short Film in Chinese Languages (2021). With her cross-disciplinary experiences and focus on politics, she produced plays related to feminism, refugee issues and racism.

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Exhibtions/Curations: 

• Voice of the Ground, 2021, Short Film Festival at Kino Moviemento, Berlin
• Film programme at Experiments in Cinema, 2023, Albuquerque (Nex Mexico)
• Sound installation “Exclave”, 2023, Brotfabrik, Berlin

Co-director, writer and executive producer of VR “Nightsss” – a virtual erotic poem premiered at Sundance Film Festival and awarded for The Best Sound Design for VR & AR Reality at Cinequest in 2021. Coordinator of DOK Exchange XR (DOK Leipzig) since 2022. Expert of the Committee for Innovative Film Projects at the National Film Institute in Poland (2021). Spoken word poet, performer, digital storyteller, PhD in cultural studies, and independent curator of XR. Researcher and writer of XR climate change games for Guest XR – an international research project on an AI agent for harmony in social XR environments (at Warsaw University). She experiments with interdisciplinary forms of poetry. Her poems were published in Romania, Estonia, South Africa and Poland.

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Exhibtions/Curations: 

• “The Liberated Voice – Sound Poetry”, 2019, Palais de Tokyo in Paris
• “The City of Dreams”, 2022, Bureau of Artistic Exhibitions in Krosno
• “A polyphony of voices - Artist reflections”, 2017, PAO, ROM for kunst og arkitektur Oslo

Lucy J. Mukerjee is a Queer British-Indian community builder and programming disruptor. Born in London, Lucy has dedicated 20 years to producing films, programming festivals, and overseeing artist development programs. She has become a trusted voice on the film festival circuit and a vocal advocate for transparency and accountability across the film industry ecosystem. Lucy is passionate about connecting filmmakers with opportunities, and her role as the Director of the Documentary Lab at Firelight Media marries her interest and expertise in elevating underestimated artists and making space for untold stories. 

She is the Co-Founder of the Programmers Of Colour Collective, a global professional development group for BIPOC film curators calling for programming inclusion on-screen, on-stage and on-staff at film festivals around the world.

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Filmography: 

• “Jack Of The Red Hearts”, Producer

Exhibition/Curation: 

• “You Are Here”, 2022 Museum of the City of New York (centennial exhibition)

Toni Bell is the creator/host of the What’s Up with Docs Podcast. She is the Impact Producer for Re-Present Media’s “The Power of Personal Documentary Films” and “A Woman on the Outside”. She is also the Impact Partnerships Strategist for Odyssey Impact. She worked as an Impact Strategist for Looky Looky Pictures and the Hartley Media Impact Initiative. She has been a speaker, panellist, mentor, and juror at documentary film festivals and labs such as EBS, Dok Leipzig, European Film Market, Docs by the Sea, and many others. She is the former Filmmaker Services Manager at the IDA, where she handled the day-to-day operations of the fiscal sponsorship program and curated the DocuClub work-in-progress screening series. She holds an MA in Visual Anthropology from USC, an MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa University, and a certificate in professional screenwriting from UCLA.

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Maria-Christina Villaseñor strives to cross-pollinate artists and audiences and empower them as active agents exchanging meaning, inspiration and awe through curated art experiences. Key focal points of her work as a curator, film programmer and writer are Latinx cinema, animation as filmic and art-installation practice, and a commitment to expanding access to and inclusion in the arts across underrepresented communities. As the Programming Director for NYICFF (New York International Children's Film Festival), she oversees the artistic direction of the Oscar-qualifying festival, curating its film programs and Industry Forum. Her previous work includes serving as film and media arts curator at the Guggenheim Museum and posts at the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Whitney Museum of American Art.

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Meet Brianna Jovahn, founder of What’s Good Productions and the What’s Good Podcast platform. She’s passionate about connecting with business owners and creatives, inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs nationwide to achieve their deepest goals and dreams. Through her podcast and production agency, Brianna motivates and supports individuals to pursue their passions and positively impact the world. Join her on this journey of inspiration and empowerment as we create a community of dream-chasers and achievers!

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