DIRECTOR

Zeinabu irene Davis is an independent filmmaker and Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. She is comfortable working in narrative, experimental, and documentary genres. Her work is passionately concerned with the depiction of women of African descent. A selection of her award-winning works includes a drama about a young slave girl for both children and adults, Mother of the River (1996); a love story set in Afro-Ohio, A Powerful Thang (1991), and an experimental narrative exploring the psycho-spiritual journey of a woman with Cycles (1989). Her dramatic feature film entitled Compensation (1999) features two inter-related love stories that offer a view of Black Deaf culture. The film was selected for the dramatic competition at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and won the Gordon Parks Award for Directing from the Independent Feature Project in 1999. Her most recent work, Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from Los Angeles (2016), won 7 awards, including the African Movie Academy Award and Best Feature Documentary & Audience Award from BlackStar. Professor Davis has received numerous grants and fellowships from such sources as the National Black Programming Consortium, Rockefeller Foundation, the American Film Institute, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is currently working on a hybrid documentary, Stars of the Northern Sky, which tells the stories of the legal trials of abolitionists, Sojourner Truth, Phyllis Wheatley, and Marie Joseph Angelique.

*photo by Natasha Moustache Photography

Producer

Nicoletta Vangelisti is an independent producer currently based in San Diego, CA. She produces documentary film, narrative film, podcasts and audio stories, and digital print stories. Recent film include: Pandemic Bread (dir. Zeinabu irene Davis); Sydney & Kim (dir. Hazel Katz); Demsala Nan (dirs. Emeer and Anvar Hassanpour); and Stars of the Northern Sky (dir. Zeinabu irene Davis). Nicoletta started her production career in New York City and in partnership with Palestinian artists living and working in the West Bank where she contributed to the growth of a robust story production industry. Nicoletta specializes in creative development and uses an artist-centered approach to production.

PRODUCER

C. Ree (Christina Ree) is a visual artist, writer, film programmer, and plant addict based in California. She always says YES to creative conspiracies, and recently had the good fortune of producing for Zeinabu irene Davis (Pandemic Bread). She is currently a producer for filmmaking duo Lev Kalman and Whitney Horn (Twin Snakes) and non alien creative producer for Rea Tajiri's upcoming feature, NON ALIEN.

LEADING ACTRESS - LUZ

Princess Punzalan is a native of the Philippines, and a respected actor in the local and international entertainment industry with more than 800 appearances on television, film, and radio. She is the daughter of celebrated Philippine broadcasters and producers Helen Vela ("Lovingly Yours, Helen") and Orlando Punzalan. She has been an actor from the age of ten, when she replaced an ill cast member on the television drama, "Kahapon Lamang." Having proved her natural ability, from that point she was cast in many other TV dramas. Princess' most famous role was as "Selina," the villain in the long-running Philippine TV series "Mula Sa Puso." Chosen for the part because of her history of underdog, sweet, and gentle character roles, she stunned viewers with her character's malevolence, in particular, her now-iconic evil laugh which helped her win Best Actress in a Drama Series. She was the protective mother on Sony Pictures' "Yellow Rose," She also portrayed the mother-in-law of Thony in "The Cleaning Lady" on Fox.

LEAD ACTRESS - REMEDIOS

Becca Godinez is a seasoned singer, actress, songwriter, director and producer. She is recognized as the first successful female singer-songwriter of pop music in the Philippines and her career has taken her through numerous musical avenues. A student of theatre arts she spent time on the legitimate stage where she performed in straight plays and musicals. Becca has received several awards including two gold record awards for her recordings. She has hosted her own television shows and was a guest in numerous other TV shows. After a 30-year hiatus Becca returned to acting and was cast as the lead in a dramedy, “Flipzoids,” for which she gained rave reviews. She brought the same production to the Philippines where it garnered rave reviews as well. Becca has performed in solo concerts. In 2022 she sold out her concert, “In My Life” held at the Aratani Theater in Los Angeles. Becca gives all honor and glory to God.

LEAD ACTRESS - DR. FEMI BALOGUN

Claire Simba completed her M.F.A at the Old Globe/ USD Shiley Graduate Theater program and her B.F.A in Theatre from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. Her New York credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Harlem Shakespeare) and Please Bring Balloons (NYCCT). She has appeared regionally in the acclaimed U.S premiere of Clue (Bucks County Playhouse), Twelfth Night (Old Globe Theater), A Christmas Carol, Peter and the Starcatcher and Safe House (Cincinnati Playhouse). Ms. Simba’s television and film credits include Madam Secretary, Shadow of Doubt, Les Pirogues des Hautes Terres (Monte Carlo TV Festival) and Morbayassa (Cannes Film Festival), among others.

ACTOR - TUNDE WASHINGTON

Los Angeles-based performer, actor, writer, producer, and comedian, Bryan Ross was born to working-class Angelenos, the youngest child out of two. Growing up in Watts, California in a creative household, Bryan was constantly exposed to a variety of cultures and art forms. He cultivated his love for the theatre and arts at the renowned Hollywood High School. Formal training at Marnie Cooper Acting School and The Center for Cinematic Arts provided him the opportunity to hone and build his skill set. Bryan has over 20 film credits as an actor and is also an award-winning short film producer. He is currently developing a conspiracy thriller web series, Question 50. As an actor who started from humble beginnings, Bryan is an avid supporter of community outreach work and supports companies such as Cineladies, Los Angeles Drama Club, and City of Youth where he is the mentor and head of the Outreach Committee.

Personal Website

ACTRESS - ABENI BALOGUN

Obinne is an LA Native who has been passionate about performing since she was a kid. Since graduating from UC San Diego she has been consistently training her acting and vocal technique as she pursues this wild world of Entertainment. Obinne is currently in rehearsals for a new musical, Arena premiering at Casa 0101. In addition to her acting work, she is in the process of writing a new web series called Intimate.

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Norbert Shieh is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and cinematographer whose projects have screened internationally in festivals and venues such as the New York Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, LACMA, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2019, Filmmaker Magazine named him one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film”.

SCREENWRITER

Marc Chéry is a writer and actor known for Compensation (1999), A Powerful Thang (1991), and Mother of the River (1995). Marc works for the San Diego Public Library Central Branch overseeing Literature and History. In 2016 he was recognized as a Local Heroes Black History Month honoree. As a screenwriter, he is dedicated to bringing San Diegans great films - he hosts events at the library focused on independent, foreign films, and films by people of color. He has managed several community-lifting programs including “One Book One San Diego” in partnership with KPBS, as well as “Do Your Homework @ The Library” program.

WRITER OF ORIGINAL STORY

Marivi Soliven has authored 17 books and taught creative writing at the University of the Philippines, Diliman and at the University of California San Diego. In 2012, Marivi was awarded a Hedgebrook writing residency for her work on The Mango Bride and its advocacy for women’s issues. That novel won the Grand Prize at the 2011 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippine counterpart of the Pulitzer Prize. A film adaptation starring Sharon Cuneta is in production. "Pandemic Bread" was ranked in the top ten among a hundred stories published in The San Diego Decameron Project, an anthology about the Covid 19 pandemic. It is inspired by an actual end of life call Marivi worked on in her day job as a Filipino interpreter. *photo by Jose Wendell Capili

EDITOR

Rommel Andaya is a filmmaker known for his comedic dramas and time travel stories. With his production company, RAWMIX Productions, Rommel has been providing a platform for actors and creatives for over a decade. He has garnered a couple of award-winning films that have been featured in many film festivals across the nation. As an editor, he was the lead editor of the feature documentary, “Uploaded the Asian American Movement, video editor at Buzzfeed and currently Amazon Prime Video. Rommel immerses himself in all aspects of production and continues to create and have a foothold in both film and new media platforms.

COMPOSER

Kris Johnson is an empathetic, intelligent, and efficient trumpeter, composer, arranger, film scorer, and educator based in Detroit, Michigan. Kris's professional career is expansive for an artist so young, including: playing in and arranging for the renowned Count Basie Orchestra; directing the University of Utah Jazz Studies program; composing several musicals, including "Jim Crow's Tears" and "Hastings Street: The Musical"; scoring films, such as the Emmy-nominated web series "King Ester"; producing successful personal projects, such as his #looptherapy album and his Kris Johnson Big Band YouTube series. Currently, Kris works as the Director of the Michigan State University Community Music School Detroit, and continues his freelance work as a composer and performer. Kris also teaches through his online platform, Office Hours with Kris.

ART DIRECTOR

Moriah HánJiāXiù Hayes (they/she/he) is a Tlingit independent filmmaker who graduated from UCSD with a BA in Communication and a double minor in Ethnic Studies and Native American & Indigenous Studies. Moriah has worked on a variety of narrative, documentary, and educational film projects that amplify truths that have been consistently undermined and pushed aside by hegemonic media. Their first documentary feature is California to Ghana (2018), and they are currently in post-production for their newest documentary feature: Dear Alaska,.