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Jasmine Leeward
Jasmine Leeward is an emerging filmmaker committed to the delicate work of culture shifting towards Black and Brown liberation, particularly in the US south. She has worked as a Communications Specialist for Women’s March Inc., ReFrame, and New Virginia Majority, a group organizing for racial, environmental, and economic justice through strategic electoral work and grassroots campaigns.
Jasmine's primary goals as a filmmaker is to radicalize imaginations and translate complex policy into accessible stories that inspire people to action. Her work is anchored in pan-africanism. She sees her art as a reflection of Audre Lorde’s definition of survival: learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish. Jasmine enjoys eating mangos on her auntie’s porch in Ghana, singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” at any karaoke bar, and watching whale documentaries. Her first short film “dusk” was selected for the 2020 Africana Film Festival.
Jade Wilson
Jade Wilson is a Black trans documentary photographer, photojournalist and video artist based in the Raleigh-Durham area. Jade examines the self in relation to others and reveals the identity of an individual and a community. Their focus on finding the beauty behind the pain of love and isolation is informed by their past. For Jade, their technique is to illuminate the relationship between identity and representation.
Hannah Patterson
Hannah Patterson is a Director, Director of Photography, Actor and Writer. Newly graduated with a Master's from Georgia State University in May 2020, Hannah enjoys making films that reach different people and invite them to feel something.
Jon Copes
Jon Copes is an emerging intermedia artist from Raleigh, North Carolina. Jon is interested in sharing his point of view as a weird, black, Gen-Z creator in the South. His work muses about love, loneliness, identity, and human connection in the internet age. As an artist, Jon's goals are to find beauty in simplicity and the everyday, to share the empowerment that comes from finding spaces to belong, and to dismantle the structures that constrain artistry and reimagine"making" in a digital era.
Joie Lou Shakur
Joie Lou Shakur (they/them) is a Black Trans immigrant from Jamaica. They are currently a Southern organizer, medicine maker, and filmmaker based in Durham, NC. Joie Lou (@joieloushakur) is the founding director of House of Pentacles, a Film Fellowship Program and Production House focused on cultural organizing and narrative power led by and for Black Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people. In addition to their work with House of P, Joie Lou facilitates healing circles for Black folks at the intersection of sexual trauma and racial violence. When they’re not building Black futures, Black Trans possibilities, or behind a camera, you can find Joie Lou dancing, practicing for karaoke, or cooking traditional Jamaican Sunday dinners on a Tuesday afternoon
Ella Figueiredo
Ella Figueiredo is a Brazilian born filmmaker. Her work focuses on telling a visually impactful story through an emotive approach. Ella has always found fascination in the unconventional. Being a queer Latina female herself, she has made it a priority to listen and tell marginalized stories that would otherwise go unheard. Every form of art intrigues Ella and this enveloped interest in it all has reassured her ultimate love for filmmaking - the ultimate combination of every form of art into one.
Kemari Bryant
Kemari Bryant is a BFA Actor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as co-founder and Co-Head of Development of Adynaton Productions. He has always had a passion for filmmaking and has previously directed and co-written “Sad Clown”, "Libations", and has served as co-director on his most recent project, "Brina", which he also co-wrote. He is in the middle of directing his latest short film currently, “Mothman: An Anti-Hate Superhero Comedy”.
ND Johnson
ND (Indie) Johnson is a 24-year-old Black, gender nonconforming trans fem who uses they/ them pronouns. They graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Media Arts and Media Management. They’ve held the Regional Communications Fellow position for Southerners On New Ground rooting their practices in organizing and world-building while helping to move campaign work and change narratives surrounding queer/trans person of color (QTPOC) and incarcerated people. They have an extensive background in film and visual arts including a fellowship with the Georgia Cinema Project directing and producing digital content for fortune 500 companies in Atlanta. They have created a television series, a web series, wrote, directed, and produced 5 short films and 8 digital commercials. Indie’s goal is to encourage other artists to express what it's like to be QTPOC in America through collaborative works. Art is always a source of resilience, power, and prosperity for their community. Indie aims to be one of the guiding forces helping to change the narrative around QTPOC people in the south. They accomplish this by crafting narratives that uplift, inspire, and illuminate the QTPOC experience. They believe that this leads to a better world for all humans to coexist. They are a true visionary.
Susu La
Susu La is an Afro-Arab of American culture and Moroccan upbringing. An artist learning how to uncensor herself. A Muslim femme who knows the only lasting truth is Change. A believer in a just and joyful future. She is pursuing the art of storytelling through filmmaking and has written and directed a short film, Aisha & Khadija. She isn’t afraid to tackle the shadows with some humor and nuance.