Gini Reticker is an Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker. Much of her work has focused on women engaged in struggles for social justice and human rights. 

Stanley Nelson is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, MacArthur “genius” Fellow, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama in August 2014. THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION is Nelson’s 8th film to premiere at Sundance Film Festival.

Matthew Heineman is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in New York. He directed and produced ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE, which premiered at Sundance 2012. Heineman has directed several short films and commercials and is currently developing a few different projects.

Documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and social impact strategist Marc Silver is creative director of The Filmmaker Fund, which supports independent documentaries devoted to unique stories of the human condition. His films include The Leech and the Earthworm (2003), the short Los Invisibles (2010; co-directed with Gael García Bernal), Who Is Dayani Cristal? (2013) and 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets (2015). He is currently at work on a film about ayahuasca, neuroscience and global drug policy.

After getting his start in New York's stand-up scene, Jon Stewart started writing for television. His on-camera debut was co-hosting Short Attention Span Theatre (90-93), after which he hosted The Jon Stewart Show (93-95) and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (99-14). He has also appeared in a number of films including Half Baked (98), Big Daddy (99), and The Beaver (11). Rosewater (14) is his feature directorial debut.

Since 1998 Holen has partnered with Adrenaline Films to produce and direct human rights based documentary films. Her work has been exhibited widely in festivals, galleries and broadcast in the U.S. and internationally.

Since founding Adrenaline Films in 1998, Alessandra Zeka has created a dynamic cinematic style wherein her subjects tell their stories compellingly and intimately. Her work often focuses on the lives of women and gender identity.

Following a screening of experimental films in 1983, Fernand Melgar turned himself into a self-taught independent film director and producer. He created experimental films and iconoclastic television segments, and in 1985, he joined the production company Climage, with whom he has stayed a faithful collaborator, and has produced over twenty well-regarded documentaries on the subjects of immigration and identity.

Francois Verster is a multiple-award winning independent documentary filmmaker based in Cape Town, South Africa.  His films generally follow “creative” observational approaches to social issues and have all won local and international awards and been broadcast around the world. He has taught documentary directing and film studies and his films have been used in various seminars on the intersection between creative documentary and social activism.

Mikael Wiström is an internationally acclaimed documentary director from Sweden. On his credit list you will first of all find a trilogy of a Peruvian family consisting of THE OTHER SHORE (1992), COMPADRE (2004) and FAMILIA ( 2010). Mikael is also a stills photographer, writer and international lecturer on documentary film.