Sahraa Karimi is an Afghan-Slovak director and screenwriter whose work bridges art, politics, and the lives of women under oppression. Her debut feature Hava, Maryam, Ayesha (2019) premiered in Venice's Orizzonti Competition and represented Afghanistan at the Academy Awards; her documentary Afghan Women Behind the Wheel won over 25 awards worldwide.
Cynthia Lin is a Chinese American filmmaker and visual artist exploring diasporic memories from the Chinese rural south. Drawing from her experience as a "satellite baby" raised in Fuzhou until age five, she crafts magical-realist ghost stories that echo the absence of family. Lin studied film at Yale University and has trained at FAMU in the Czech Republic and EICTV in Cuba. In 2023, she was selected for The Gotham Film and Media Institute's project development and pitch program, and she is currently in the Linz Film Talent Academy developing A Funeral Procession of Fireflies.
Weijia Zhou is a New York–based Chinese producer and filmmaker dedicated to intimate, socially grounded storytelling. Her debut short Away (2020) screened at numerous festivals including the Oscar-qualifying Interfilm Berlin, and her background spans program development at Women Make Movies and Chicago Filmmakers.
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