Seoul Train is a 2004 documentary film that deals with the dangerous journeys of North Korean defectors fleeing through or to China. These journeys are both dangerous and daring, since if caught, they face forced repatriation, torture, and possible execution.
Anna Biller is an independent American filmmaker who has directed two feature films. Biller considers herself a feminist filmmaker and consciously explores feminist themes throughout her work, including exploring the female gaze in cinema. She is vocal on both her website and in interviews about gender inequalities in the film industry.
Leanne Pooley ONZM is a Canadian filmmaker based in Auckland, New Zealand. Pooley was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she immigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1980s and began working in the New Zealand television and film industry before moving to England where she worked for many of the world's top broadcasters. She returned to New Zealand in 1997 and started the production company Spacific Films. Her career spans more than 25 years and she has won numerous international awards. Leanne Pooley was made a New Zealand Arts Laureate in 2011 and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours List 2017. She is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Joshua Alexander Caldwell is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. In 2006, he won a Golden Popcorn award at the MTV Movie Awards for writing, directing and producing the film The Beautiful Lie.
Native New Yorker (2005) is the title of the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival Best Documentary Short by Steve Bilich.
Marianna Bronislawa Barbara Palka is a Scottish actress, producer, director, and writer. She is the writer, director and star of the film Good Dick, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
Afia Serena Nathaniel is an independent Pakistani filmmaker who works primarily as a writer, director, producer and editor. She is a graduate of the Film Division at the Columbia University School of the Arts (2006).
Klaudia Kovacs is a film & theater director known for her documentary Torn from the Flag.
Gabriela Böhm is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker from Buenos Aires, Argentina now living in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Shorts International Film Festival(LA Shorts) founded by Robert Arentz in 1997 is one of the largest international short film festivals in the world with more 300 films screening annually.
Rafika Chawishe is an awarded stage and film actress, and director. She is a dynamic children rights' activist and has worked extensively with unaccompanied refugee minors at the first reception center in Lesvos, Moria, Greece.
Punch Me is a 2011 short film drama about a young man who must embrace his identity or risk losing the two people he loves most. The film examines important messages regarding self, parental and societal acceptance as well as love and health awareness. The film played in several film festivals from 2010-2012, winning and being nominated for multiple awards and/or accolades.
Tomer Heymann is an Israeli filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the documentary films Paper Dolls, Mr.Gaga and Who's Gonna Love Me Now?.
Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death, & Technology (2011) is an autobiographical documentary film directed by Tiffany Shlain, dedicated to her father. The film unfolds during a year in which technology and science literally become a matter of life and death for the director. As Tiffany’s father Dr. Leonard Shlain, MD battles brain cancer and she confronts a high-risk pregnancy, her very understanding of connection is challenged. Using a mix of animation, archival footage, and home movies, Shlain attempts to reveal the ties that link us not only to the people we love but also to the world at large. Connected explores how, after centuries of declaring our independence, it may be time for us to declare our interdependence instead.
The Valley Film Festival (VFF) is an annual independent film festival held in the San Fernando Valley of northwestern Los Angeles, California.
Tamar Halpern is a writer and director living in Los Angeles. She holds an M.F.A. degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.
Aya Tanimura is an Australian-Japanese writer and director, based in Los Angeles, California.
Lindsey Dryden is an Emmy award-winning British film director, producer and writer.
14 DAYS is a 2014 American science fiction experimental film, written and directed by Joseph Villapaz. It stars Emily Dennis and Michael Wetherbee and takes place in New York City. It has screened at the Alhambra Theatre Film Festival, Motor City Nightmares, NewFilmmakers Spring Screening Series and at the New Jersey Film Festival. It received 4th Place in the Best Sci-Fi Short Film category at the 2015 International Horror Hotel film festival and an honorable mention in the Best Feature Film category at the Los Angeles Film Review Independent Film Awards.
Kommando 1944 is a short film depicting the Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It was directed and written by Derek Quick. The film has won over 100 awards within its first month on the festival circuit around the world and is currently competing to break the Guinness World Records for short film wins.
