Brenda Avila-Hanna is a filmmaker and educator born and raised in Mexico City. Most of her work connects to the nuances and complexities within transnational identities and communities. Her work has been supported by ITVS, the Redford Center, BAVC, DOCS MX and more. Her films have screened in places like HotDocs, Tribeca, Lakino Berlin and many other festivals, universities and community events around the world. Brenda is a recent Rockwood/Just Films fellow and was part of the inaugural cohort of DOC NYC’s “Documentary Industry New Leaders.” She was the first team lead for Equity and Representation at New Day Films and is currently producing three documentary films, including HOW TO CLEAN A HOUSE IN 10 EASY STEPS (Dir. Carolina Gonzalez) and EMERGENT CITY (Dir. Kelly Anderson/Jay Sterrenberg) and LIBERTAD, which marks her feature directorial debut. Brenda is an active member of BGDM, Color Congress, and the Video Consortium Mexico. She is a board member of the Watsonville Film Festival and a professor at UC Santa Cruz, where she lives close to the redwoods and to her beloved familia.

Kati Greaney is a filmmaker, photographer, and Director of Photography based in the Bay Area. After years of working as a commercial and documentary photographer, Kati undertook a Masters degree in Social Documentation from UC Santa Cruz where she created her first short documentary film entitled “Guajiros.” The film followed two Haitian agronomists as they travelled through the Cuban countryside and learned about sustainable farming. The film screened at the St. Louis Film Festival, Watsonville Film Festival, San Jose International Film Festival, and California International Shorts Film Festival. Kati is a Director of Photography for the interactive documentary and mixed media project “Inside the Distance” directed by Sharon Daniel, who was awarded the prestigious Rockefeller/Tribeca Film Festival New Media Fellowship for her work. She teaches a course on Storytelling for the Digital Age at the University of Santa Cruz, California.

Cassandra Casasola has worked in the Production and Photography areas for the Campamento Audiovisual Itinerante, La Calenda Audiovisual, OaxacaCine, Agencia Bengala, Bambú Audiovisual and in a variety of film productions. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, her interest in making movies started in 2012 while taking her first experimental cinematography workshop. She received the prestigious Programa a Jóvenes Creadores 2017-2018 offered by the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes in Mexico, the Estímulo a Creadores Cinematográficos 2017 for screenwriting and the Estímulo a Creadores Cinematográficos 2018 for Project Development given by the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía for her first documentary feature “Through Tola”. Her latest short film, “Tuyuku”, was awarded best short film at the prestigious Morelia Film Festival in 2019.

Melina Tupa is an award-winning Argentinean and Brazilian journalist and documentary filmmaker, specializing in human rights and Latino issues across the world. She worked for five years as an associate TV producer, three of those years at Turner Broadcasting System. Melina holds a Bachelor in Journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and a Master of Journalism from UC Berkeley, focusing on Documentary Filmmaking and Photojournalism. At the Berkeley J-School, Melina was awarded a TV/Documentary Merit Fellowship and the Carlos M. Castañeda Journalism Scholarship.

Her documentary thesis “The Search”, tells the story of Estela de Carlotto, the president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose grandson was abducted during the Argentinean military dictatorship. The documentary is a Student Academy Award finalist, a recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism Award for Student Special Project in addition to several other awards, and has been featured in different film festivals across the world.

Eugenia Renteria is a Watsonville-based director, cinematographer and editor. Most of her work is centered around her life experiences as an immigrant woman. Born and raised in a small town in Zacatecas, Mexico she moved to California when she was 12 years old and that’s when her interest in filmmaking started. She attended CSU Monterey Bay and graduated with a B.A. in Cinematic Arts & Technology. Shortly after, she co-founded her production company Inspira Studios. With Inspira she gets to produce content for businesses and organizations, as well as, produce her own stories..

André Pérez is a nonbinary and Latinx artist, historian, and nonprofit consultant whose work centers collaborative storytelling for social change. He founded the Transgender Oral History Project in 2007, recorded over 600 interviews as part of StoryCorps, and played a key role in several LGBTQ+ nonprofit start-ups including the Trans Lifeline. After participating in Doc Society's inagural Queer Social Impact Producer Lab, he directed AMERICA IN TRANSITION (Frameline, 2019), a docuseries and social impact campaign that highlighted BIPOC trans leaders in the South and Midwest through over 100 workshops, presentations, and lectures at colleges, community centers, and art spaces. André produced A RUN FOR MORE, a verité doc following a Latina fighting to become the first openly transgender elected official in Texas (PBS, Southern Circut, 2023), and DESIRE LINES, a hybrid documentary exploring trans masculinity in gay culture (Sundance Special Jury Award winner, 2024). His work has been honored by GLAAD, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, and the Association of Independent Radio amoung others. 

Alejandro Santana Jr. was born and raised in Watsonville CA. He graduated from UCSC in 2014 with a degree in film and digital media where he won the Dean's Art Award for his documentary, Midnight Warrior. In 2015, Alex went on to work for two television news stations as a Production Assistant: KSBW Channel 8 and NBC Bay Area. After almost a year of working in the news industry, Alex left to work for the Diversity Center where currently wears two professional hats: Communications Coordinator and Co Youth Program Coordinator. In addition to his work at the Diversity Center, Alex remains active with film by volunteering his time with the Watsonville Film Festival's Program and Communications Committees and the Digital Nest's Film Associates program.