MJ Kiego is a multi-generational Deaf filmmaker and creative artist that loves to create and experiment with 8, 16, and 35mm film. She also currently works with the award-winning Motion Light Lab housed at Gallaudet University as a production specialist, and as the media director for Copper & Water, where she collaborates on video projects for the Deaf community.

Areas of Focus: 8mm, 16mm, 35mm film.

Matthew DeLeon is a Cinematographer and Editor from New Braunfels, Texas. He started making video skits when he was 10 years old, and has been uniquely committed to the creation of fantastic media ever since. He acquired two bachelor’s degrees from Texas Lutheran University: one in Dramatic Media with an emphasis in Film Studies, and the other in Communications. Since then, Matthew has led many student productions and has worked on commercial projects in and around San Antonio and Austin. He has achieved great success in the 48 Hour Film Project in Austin, as a part of the team Dos Pollos Productions which has taken home many awards including Best Cinematography, Best editing, and Best Film.

Now pursuing an MFA in Film & Media Production at the University of Texas, Matthew hopes to further his education and technical skills in creating documentary and fictional projects. Matthew enjoys telling authentic stories that reflect the true lived experiences of his documentary subjects, and in his fictional work he loves to experiment with cool new techniques to visually convey deeper emotional truths about his fictional characters. Technique is nothing if it can’t help achieve a great story.

Areas of Interest: Cinematography, Editing, Documentary, Fictional Narrative, Comedy.

Jahaira Daga Acevedo is a Peruvian filmmaker based in Austin, Texas, whose work often centers themes of sexuality, coming of age, and Latinx culture. She received her B.A. in Audiovisual Communication from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and is a graduate candidate for the M.F.A. in Film & Media Production at the University of Texas at Austin.

She has worked in post production sound, editing and directed both fiction and documentary short films. The projects she made include autobiographical documentaries that explore personal, poetic, and familiar stories, and fiction short films about sexuality and immigration.

Her non-fiction short film Camino a casa (2024) was part of the Cine Festival San Antonio 2024 as one of the Mesquite Award Documentary nominees. Latente (2018) was part of the Muestra Itinerante at Festival de Cine de Lima 2019, Festival de Cine Universitario Render 2019, Festival de Cine Peruano en Madrid 2024, and Sala Violeta 2022. Her fiction short film Niñas (2024) participated in Festival de Cine Incontrastable 2024, Hispanic Heritage Film Festival 2024, Amarillo International Film Festival 2024 and Cine Festival San Antonio 2024 as one of the Mesquite Award Narrative nominees.

Area of Focus: documentary, performance, social justice, feminism, sexuality, Latinx culture, autobiography

Fatima is a doctoral student of media studies at the Radio-Television-Film department. She is interested in studying the relationship between media, identity, and place for diasporas, particularly from the Middle East.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University’s branch campus in Qatar, where she began exploring questions of identity, studying media narratives of national identity, othering, and other-ness during times of conflict. She completed her MA in Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown, with a focus on the intersection of media, politics, culture, and social movements. Prior to joining RTF, Fatima worked at the DC-based International Center for Journalists, a media support nonprofit, where she developed new proposals and supported programs in the Middle East.

Fatima is a Lebanese expatriate twice over - born and raised in Qatar, before relocating to the United States. She enjoys listening to Arabic music, watching TV, reading, and running.

Originally from Atlanta, GA, Dana Phillips is currently a first-year Media Studies MA student. Dana received her B.A. in Women’s & Gender Studies/International Studies from Denison University in 2020, and now works full time as a Program Coordinator for UT Austin’s Center for Community Engagement. She is passionate about the intersection of arts, academia, and activism and is especially interested in researching the way transnational solidarity networks can be formed around and uplifted by art and media. In the future she hopes to pursue innovative projects within public or nonprofit organizations that mobilize new and emerging forms of art and media towards social change.

In her spare time, Dana loves playing cello and guitar, and volunteers as a board member and band coach for QORDS, a virtual music camp for LGBTQ+ youth.

Areas of Interest: Identity and Representation, Community Engagement and Activism, Transnational Feminist Networks, Cultural Studies, Gender & Sexuality.

Ann Laudick is a PhD student in the Radio-Television-Film department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her primary research focus is on the American film and television industry, with a particular interest in how production work is organized and experienced in local production communities. Her current research focuses on historical and contemporary constructions of space and on-set production processes. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked in feature film and television production.

Yen-Jen Chen is a Ph.D. Student in Media Studies at UT Austin. He completed his BA in Theater Studies at National Taiwan University of Arts and MA in Taiwanese Literature and Culture Studies at National Taiwan University. In his Master’s thesis, titled “Towards Queer Absurdity: The National and Sexual Politics of Contemporary Popular Culture in Taiwan,” he queerly appropriates Albert Camus’ concept of absurdity to propose the notion of what he call “queer absurdity” as a critical model that explains how the “feeling of absurdity” works as a survival aesthetic form shared by minorities to resist normativity. As the first master thesis that theorizes queer within the Taiwan context, his thesis won the Master thesis Award from both the Cultural Studies Association, Taiwan and National Museum of Taiwan Literature, and he revised parts of his thesis into a journal article published in Cultural Studies Quarterly. For his doctoral research, he aims to critically investigate the cultural and political implications of contemporary online queer performances and to place media studies in conversation with diverse fields, including queer theory, East Asia studies, critical theories, postcolonial studies, and oceanic discourse to explore the possibilities of queer solidarity in the Chinese-speaking world.