Committees board'2020
Cait Cortelyou
Cait Cortelyou is an American actress, an award-winning producer, and a women's rights activist with Planned Parenthood and the National Institute for Reproductive Health. As an actress, Cait made her television debut in Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning series "The Knick;" and she can be seen in season two of CBS's "Bull" as Delilah. She recently produced and starred in the theatrically released and award-winning feature film Ask for Jane, which premiered at the 2018 Hamptons Film Festival and is distributed by levelFILM. On stage, Cait originated a role in the acclaimed Off-Broadway hit Sleep No More, and is on the Artistic staff of The Shelter, a long-running independent theatre company in NYC. Cait holds a BA in theatre from Barnard College of Columbia University, where she graduated with honors a year and a half early. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner Carl and their cat Stevens.
Michelle Cutler
Michelle Tamara Cutler is a narrative screenwriter focused on stories with strong female protagonists. With over a decade of experience in entertainment and advertising, she is skilled in character development, story structure, research and creative non-fiction. While completing an MFA in film from Tisch/NYU, Michelle was an IFP/New York Project Involve Honoree, a development intern at Good Machine and directed six short films and four original plays in New York City theatres. Her first screenplay was accepted into IFP’s Emerging Narrative Market and optioned by Miramax/Disney. She co-wrote a feature with DGA-award winning director, Nicolai Fuglsig, and adapted a life rights story for Academy Award winning producers Blye Pagon Faust and Nicole Rocklin. Her original TV series, “Canciones Rurales”, was one of 6 projects selected for the Barcelona Film & TV Market 2018. Her script “Fabulous Disaster” was one of 12 projects at the Toronto Female Eye Film Festival’s Development Lab 2017, receiving the “Best Reserve Screenplay” award. She is currently under contract to adapt a true story covered in Rolling Stone magazine. When not working on feature projects, she freelances as a writer for award-winning directors and production companies, collaborating on 100 commercial projects annually.
Isidora Marras
Isidora Marras was born in Santiago de Chile in 1986. She is a filmmaker and a screenwriter.
Her short films include “THE CROW´S CARBONADA” (2008) and “FEARLESS” (2019). Her first feature “I AM NOT LORENA” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014 and travelled the festival circuit all over the world. The same year, she was one of twenty directors chosen for the first-ever Global Directors Initiative at FOX. In addition to her writing & directing career, Isidora has worked in domestic and international productions as a film-TV editor and assistant director. Currently, she is developing her second feature film.
Roser Corella
Roser Corella (Barcelona, 1978) is an Independent Documentary Filmmaker currently based in Berlin. Roser began her career as a video-journalist for the Catalan TV, but her interest in human stories behind global issues moved her to start self-producing and developing a personal vision within the documentary field. Her work has been shown worldwide, winning numerous awards. Her fascination for the documentary genre has led her to travel the world in search of stories that deserve to be told. Not only to witness but to challenge and raise critical questions about contemporary societies.
Jorge Yacoman
Born on January 1, 1988 in Santiago de Chile. Writer, director and producer. His first feature film, a completely indie production, "La comodidad en la distancia" competed in the 61st San Sebastián International Film Festival in the "Films in progress" category and premiered at the 10th Santiago International Film Festival, the 43rd Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival, the 7th Cine B International Film Festival and the 15th Genève Black Movie Film Festival. His second feature film "Fragmentos de Lucía" competed in the 48th Viña del Mar International Film Festival as a work in progress and then premiered at the 32nd Warsaw International Film Festival and the 61st Valladolid International Film Festival. He has also made several short-films such as "Through your reflection" which won the 2nd place at the 17th Valdivia International Film Festival in the students category. He's working on his third film and preparing to publish his books: three fiction novels, three collections of short stories and a poem book.
Dr. April Yulan Wei
Dr. April Wei is a scholar, film critic, scriptwriter and a producer. She now teaches Chinese cinema and gender topics in City University of Hong Kong. Her critical writing has appeared in Ming Pao, Asial Weekly, FLEURS DES LETTRES, E-Journal Iris and Hong Kong Literature Bimonthly.
Ana Valine
A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors’ Lab & Short Dramatic Film
Program and WIDC at Banff, Ana has spent most of her life in the arts. From theatre, visual arts and writing, to filmmaking, her creative endeavors have been enhanced with varied life experiences including a welder’s apprenticeship on the Alberta pipeline, training horses, tree planting, and a brief stint doing phone sex. Ana’s short films alice & bastard, a love poem, Nightmare on Cambie Street and How Eunice Got Her Baby have screened at film festivals internationally and have been honored with several awards both abroad and in Canada. Her debut feature Sitting on the Edge of Marlene was awarded The Women In the Director’s Chair Feature Film Award, WIFT-T Kodak New Vision Mentorship Award, WIFTV Whistler Film Festival Mentorship Award, Best Screenplay Award at The Female Eye Film Festival, two Leo Awards for Direction and Production Design, The BC Emerging Filmmaker Award, Women in Film and Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award, Best Canadian Feature at the Female Eye Film Festival, two nominations from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle and a Flash Forward Nomination at the Busan International Film Festival. Marlene has had a successful international festival run, television broadcast and is currently on several digital platforms in Canada and the US. Ana’s second feature Once There Was a Winter is currently touring festivals, and she is writing her third feature screenplay, as well as making commissioned videos.
EVA TOMANOVÁ
EVA TOMANOVÁ is a Czech author and director, with a background in Journalism. For the last twelve years she has worked for Czech TV, Febio s.r.o., and TV Barran- dov, and as a director of documentary films and TV programs. Prior to that (1998-2006) she worked at TV Nova as an investigator for Current Affairs documen- taries, in one of the top journalistic programs in the Czech Republic. She has wor- ked for television documentaries and reportages in Ethiopia, Brazil, Spain, and was very successful as a high-level interviewer (interviewing former Czech president Václav Havel, politicians, actors). She was member of the Executive Board of the Czech Cinematography Fund. Always Together was her first feature-length docu- mentary and theatrical debut and was premiered at IDFA and nominated for the best debut. Another Chance is her second feature-length film, premiered at One World Film Festival in Prague and priced by the Special Jury Price. Selected Filmography 2019 Another Chance, feature length documentary (One World Festival -Special Jury Price, LLF - Bronze Grapes Price) 2018 Born in 1918, tv film 2016 Soul not for Sale, tv film 2014 Always Together, feature-length documentary (IDFA nomination for the best debut, BIDF Best Edit Price) 2011 In the Shadow of Sculls, tv film) 2009 Czech Loving, tv series
Cynthia-Laure Etom
Cynthia-Laure Etom is a journalist and consultant in public relations. With a strong commitment to human rights and gender equality, with a focus on women and gender issues, her expertise extends to the place and image of women within the media. She is the President & Founder of the international organization : Women In Film – France (WIF – FRANCE). Also a speaker, she delivers workshops for all, in Europe and North America.
Liza Donnelly
Liza Donnelly is an award winning cartoonist and writer for The New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times, Medium, CBS News and CNN . Donnelly is also the innovator of a form of visual journalism, covering news and cultural events by drawing them in real time. Donnelly travels the world speaking to conferences and universities, and has served as a cultural envoy for the U.S. State Department. She delivered a popular TED talk that was translated into 38 languages. The author of 17 books, Donnelly is a Barnard College Athena Distinguished Leadership Fellow. She is currently an advisor/producer on three film projects and lives in New York.
Sophie Hyde
Sophie is a co-founder of Closer Productions. She lives and works on Kaurna land in South Australia. Her film 52 Tuesdays (director/producer/co-writer) won the directing award in World Cinema Dramatic at Sundance and the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Her other films include feature documentaries Life in Movement (producer/co-director), winner of the Australian Documentary Prize and the Cinedans Jury and Audience awards, Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure and Sam Klemke’s Time Machine (producer), which both premiered at Sundance and In My Blood It Runs (producer) which premiered at Hotdocs. Her episodic series for ABC F*! #ing Adelaide, (creator, producer, director) premiered in competition at Series Mania. In 2019 she premiered feature Animals (director/producer) at Sundance and her 4x1-hour TV series The Hunting (creator/producer/director) became network SBS’s most successful commissioned show ever.