DIRECTOR and WRITER

Patrícia Colmenero is a Brazilian writer and director based in New York City. She addresses themes like feminism, colonization, LGBTQ+ rights, and identity. Patrícia directed the feature-length film In the Belly of the Whale (2023). Additionally, she wrote the novel “I Will Hunger Until I Die” and was editor-in-chief of Nil Magazine. She always aims to work with a diverse crew behind and in front of the cameras. She has a Ph.D. in cinema and is currently studying to get her MFA in directing from the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.

PRODUCER

Nanda is a Brazilian-born producer of film and theater. Originally from Rio, Nanda has an undergrad degree in Communications from PUC-Rio. After 10 years in the tech industry, she’s decided to use her skills and expertise for good and transition to film production, providing a platform for artists to create, develop and perform their art with unbridled creativity and ingenuity. She is currently getting her MFA in Film Producing at Brooklyn College, where she is expanding her skillset and unlocking new creative possibilities.

EXECUTIVE RODUCER

Barbara is a Brazilian-American actor, writer, producer, and mother who was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. She has more than 30 stage projects in her nearly three decade-long acting career along with a background in architecture, photography. and marketing. In the past 8 years she has worked as a social media content creator and strategist, helping 100+ small businesses and creators achieve success in the digital marketplace. She has achieved great success herself on social media with her comedic sketches earning her over 100K followers, over 10 million views, and partnerships with numerous well-known brands during this time. For the past two years she has been transitioning her social media presence to focus more on her career in TV and Film after graduating from Terry Knickerbocker Two-Year Meisner Training in New York City. Her teachers and mentors include Terry Knickerbocker, Catherine Dyer, Jason MacDonald, who made her fall in love with the TV and Film production process. One of her proudest accomplishments to date is launching her film company Samambaia Films, where she has many ongoing projects.

Sarah Rhye is a visual artist based in Brooklyn, NY whose practice encompasses photography, filmmaking and writing. A sustained focus on the natural world in tension with human-generated systems of justice, commerce, and gender, particularly relating to women’s experiences, is central to her practice. Rhye earned her BA from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU, concentrating in Aesthetic History and Design. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Directing for Film from Brooklyn College.

VICTOR FONTOURA is a Brazilian theater and film director, producer and actor based in NYC. He is an MFA student in Cinema Arts at Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema and graduated in Theatre Directing from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He also studied film at SVA - School of Visual Arts, MNN - Manhattan Neighborhood Network and AIC - Academia Internacional de Cinema. His most recent work is a short film about sexual harassment called “The 2nd Act” which he directed, wrote and produced, and it has been screened in many festivals around the world. In Brazil his last work as a director and producer was the LGBTQ play “Nascituros”. As an actor he has been part of the project W.A.V.E. where the actors perform a forum play for Brazilian communities in NY and NJ about domestic violence against immigrant women.

April Wen is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and filmmaker based in New York City. Her works have appeared in the American Northeast, Mexico, Taiwan, and Georgia’s Caucasus Mountains. Her institutional experiences include Film and Media Studies at Yale University (B.A. 2017), a Teaching Artist Fellowship at the Center for Urban Pedagogy (2018), and a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Taiwan (2021-2022). She is currently pursuing an MFA in Film Directing at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Brooklyn College. April directs films using a blend of fiction and documentary processes and tells stories that center and explore the experiences of Chinese-American characters.