Ana Hoppert Flores is a Latina immigrant and filmmaker hailing from the global and regional South. She has BAs in English and Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and will be pursuing an MFA in Film and Media Production at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ana's filmmaking practice strives to establish a long-standing dialogue with the communities it represents, and often draws on the conventions of slow cinema to tell intersectional stories that unfold in the everyday. “Abuela,” a short narrative film which she co-created and filmed, received the 2024 Latin American Communities Prize at Longleaf Film Festival; "A House for My Mother," a short documentary which she produced and was the co-cinematographer for, won the jury prize for Best Documentary Short at the 2025 Oxford Film Festival.

Prior to her graduate studies, Ana was an associate producer at Teacup Productions, and a producer at Ethereal Films. Her work has been featured in Burlington Latino (2024) and Aspect Journal of Film & Screen Media (2023).

Zachariah Qureshi is PhD student in the Radio-Television-Film department. His research focuses on transnational cinema with a particular emphasis on Indian and Asian cinemas. He is interested in exploring the intersection of transnational film theory and critical theory.
His undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Dallas was in Political Science with a minor in Film Studies, and he earned his master’s degree from UTD in Visual and Performing Arts. He has presented his work at multiple academic conferences, including Northumbria University’s Horror Studies Now Conference and Indiana University’s Blockbuster Futures Conference. 

Zachariah’s non-academic work includes journalistic criticism, with publications on ScreenSpeck.com, as well as experimental visual art, with a video installation at ARC Gallery in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas. 
In addition to Indian Cinema, Zachariah has also worked on Iranian cinema as well as the films of Spike Lee.

Brian grew up in the Pacific NW and worked as a commercial cinematographer in New Orleans prior to enrolling at the University of Texas.

His work explores contemporary life in America and has been screened and awarded at a variety of festivals, including Indie Memphis, Tacoma Film Festival, H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and Overlook Film Festival.

Jack Kyser graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2013, where he was a Dean’s Scholar and film major. His previous eight short films have screened at film festivals nationwide over the last several years. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Austin Film Society Grant for Feature Films and the Richie Jackson Artist Fellowship. Since 2017, Jack has worked as a video editor at Comedy Central for THE DAILY SHOW and other Paramount projects. Previously, he was an associate producer and assistant editor for Emmy-winning filmmaker Nancy Buirski, and interned at Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions. He studied acting at Manhattan’s Herbert Berghof Studio. Most recently, his short film RUSTY LIGHTNIN’ KICK STARTS won the Audience Award, Best Actor and Best Cinematography prizes at the 512 ATX Short Film Festival, and his one-man RUSTY LIGHTNIN' performance piece was a Best of Fest recipient at Hyde Park Theatre’s FronteraFest 2025. The film has also screened at the Oak Cliff Film Festival and the Hyperreal Film Club.

Born in Wichita, Kansas and raised in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley, Amelia always gravitated to the magic of film and TV.

She moved to Austin for her BS in Radio-Television-Film and fell in love with Media Studies, thanks to the amazing faculty here at UT. She is currently working full-time as a HR Assistant with the Moody College, while focusing on her MA in Media Studies.

Amelia takes an interest in children’s media, superhero media, Latinx representation, gender representation and the effects of globalization on media. She hopes to give a platform to a part of media history that often doesn’t get the spotlight.