Moema Umann
Festival Director/Programmer
Moema Umann is a Brazilian filmmaker, and co-owner/founder of MoTif Productions. She holds a M.F.A. in directing from The Actors Studio in New York. Her work seeks to explore new ways of telling stories through a mix of film, drawing, animation, photography, and poetry. Through her projects she aims to create opportunities for other underrepresented artists to collaborate.
Tiffany DeRuyter
Festival Director/Programmer
Tiffany DeRuyter is from Montana and is an anthropologist, educator, director, producer and co-owner/founder of MoTif Productions. She currently manages a Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Tiffany uses filmmaking to bring global issues to light particularly those faced by underrepresented groups.
Yasmin Santana
Festival Director/Programmer
Yasmin Santana is a Brazilian actress, director, designer, multidisciplinary artist and co-owner/founder of MoTif Productions. She is currently working as a company artist at 3-Legged Dog Art and Technology Center in New York. Yasmin graduated with a BA in Performing Arts from CEFART (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and has extensive experience in theater and film.
Rena Anakwe
Programmer
Rena Anakwe, is an interdisciplinary artist and performer, working primarily with sound, visuals, and scent. Exploring intersections between traditional healing practices, spirituality and performance she creates works focused on sensory-based, experiential interactions using technology. A member of the artistic collective NON Worldwide, she is based in Brooklyn, New York by way of Nigeria and Canada.
She has collaborated, produced and shown audio/visual work at: MAD Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), TCC Chicago (CHI), Knockdown Center (NYC), NY Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1(NYC), Les Nubians ‘Up Close & Personal’ Tour (VARIOUS), The Tank (NYC), CTM Festival (GER), the Museum of the Moving Image (NYC), Europe’s Capital of Culture in Turku (FI.)
Laila Garroni
Programmer
Laila Garroni is a Brazilian actress and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. She graduated from the 2-year professional conservatory at Stella Adler Studio of Acting, where besides getting a solid training in theater, she also had the opportunity of learning on-camera techniques. Her latest works include a production of the play Necessary Targets and the short-film Stand Clear of the Closing Doors. Laila also co-founded Evoé, an award-winning collective created to promote Brazilian culture abroad. Through the production of staged readings and the creation of original contents, the collective works to showcase the universality and beauty of Brazilian stories, styles, and voices.
Skye Morse-Hodgson
Programmer
Skye Morse-Hodgson is a producer, filmmaker, photographer, and award winning screenwriter. Originally from Los Angeles, she moved to New York in 2015 after graduating from Brooks Institute with a BFA in filmmaking. She has been involved in the creation, management, and shooting of productions at 3LD Art and Technology Center, The Tank, Dixon Place, Here Art Center, The Brick, The Performing Garage, Danspace, Judson Theater, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Deitch Projects, Collapsable Hole, Tisch NYU, and many others.
Dan Wall
Festival Director/Programmer
, Alaska, where he teaches (among other things) a course on Alaska Natives in UtqiaÄ¡vikDan Wall is Associate Professor of Social Sciences at IḷisaÄ¡vik College in film. His previous experience includes 10 years of full time teaching at Diné College on the Navajo Nation, a brief stint at the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, and a year and a half as a Public Relations representative and volunteer coordinator for an animal shelter. He publishes a blog called northierthanthou. In his free time, he is usually tapping away at his keyboard. (It’s cold outside.) Dan is an advisor and associated producer of MôTif Productions.
Eduardo Guerra
Festival Director/Programmer
Eduardo Guerra is a biologist based at the Department of Ecology and Evolution at UCLA, where he studies human evolution, health, disease, and the environment.