FILMMAKER BIO'S
MICAELA “MICA” BURGESS
Micaela “Mica” Burgess is primarily a fiction writer from El Paso, Texas. Previously she’s written an unpublished novella titled Los Invisibles, and Everything is Blue is her first short film. She is currently working on her MFA in Creative Writing at American University and hopes to continue writing for both the page and the screen.
KHAULA MALIK
Khaula Malik is a filmmaker whose work explores intersectional identity and ideas of home.
Most recently, she was selected for the 2020 Tribeca Chanel Through
Her Lens program and the 2020 Cine Qua Non Revisions Lab for her
narrative feature, SUTOON.
Her short film HOW THE AIR FEELS premiered at AFI Docs, won the
National Board of Review Student Grant Award, and the Special Jury Award at the Sharjah Film Platform. She associate produced the award winning feature documentary, OF LOVE & LAW.
She has served on the review committee for the Peabody Awards and The Gotham Documentary Lab. She was a fellow in the 2018 Hot Springs Emerging Filmmaker program with her feature documentary,
THE NOBLE HALF, and an artist-in-residence at Governor’s Island for her multimedia project, THE WARMEST ZEROES.
Khaula’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Sight & Sound, Brown Girl Magazine, as well as on CUNY TV. She is a proud member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia and a graduate of the MFA program at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.
ITANDEHUI JANSEN
Itandehui Jansen was born in Oaxaca, Mexico and studied film directing at the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam. She participated in different international film programs, such as TorinoFilm Lab and Berlinale Talents. Her documentaries and short films screened at international festivals such as the IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) and the Morelia International Film Festival. Her short film The Last Council won several international awards and was nominated for the Mexican Film Critics Award Diosa de Plata. At present she is Associate Professor in the Film Programme of the University of Edinburgh.
SARAY ARGUMEDO
Saray Argumedo (Chichimeca) born in South Los Angeles and raised in the borderland of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua, Mexico. Her family originates from the mountains and cornfields of Chalchihuites, Saín Alto Zacatecas and El Centro, Hidalgo del Parral Chihuahua.
MAZDEY SNOB
Born in Mexico, Mazdey currently lives in Spain. She received a Bachelor in Graphic Design from the University of Guadalajara, though she has always had an interest in cinema and filmmaking. Through an appreciation of fashion film, she has explored the audiovisual language by creating stories that reflect her own vision of the world. Mazdey is also the founder of Snob Solutions, an independent audiovisual production company focusing on fashion, art, music and lifestyle projects.
With over six years of experience in producing video content for artists, designers and fashion brands, she has been engaged by several universities and platforms to discuss fashion film as a genre through her work as a director.
KHUSHEE HEGDE
I am a filmmaker and photographer in my final year of B.Cra. Film at Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology, Bangalore.
My film “Cage”, made during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, was an official selection in 13 national and international film festivals.
I was an intern on the Direction Team for Season 1 of an upcoming Web Series Written and Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia.
My debut music video as a Director and Cinematographer “Yeh Tera Saath” was released under the label of “Zee Music Company” Since I can remember, the idea of being behind the camera has always driven me. By capturing frames I am able to build connections between the people, places, and stories that I come across on a daily.
The power to make a completely different world in a form of a film is something that fascinates me about art. I believe that it is in simple everyday life where you can find the most extraordinary stories. I have an urge to tell such stories that would move people and bring change to their lives, even in the slightest way.
ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ
Alejandra Vasquez is a Mexican-American filmmaker and producer. Raised in rural West Texas, Alex is at work on a meditative film about her hometown’s relationship to the boom-and-bust cycle of the oil industry with support from the International Women’s Media Foundation and Latino Public Broadcasting.
She co-directed the short films “Varsity Oro” that premiered in Pop-Up Magazine, and “Folk Frontera” with a PBS broadcast premiere as part of The Latino Experience program. She was the Production Coordinator on Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018) and an Associate Producer on Us Kids (2020).
As a series producer for Topic Studios, Alex published Night Shift, a four-part series about New Yorkers who work the graveyard shift and the ten-part series Eating that explores the rituals, beliefs, and ambitions surrounding the act of eating.
She’s a 2020 Film Independent Docuseries Fellow and a 2020 Logan Nonfiction Fellow.
YING-FANG SHEN
Ying-Fang Shen is a Taiwanese independent filmmaker with advanced training in ink painting and digital art. Her work reflects experiments in painting, illustration, digital filmmaking and animation that are heavily influenced by the handmade aesthetics of traditional East Asian art and Taoist philosophy.