25th AAWIC FF Film Screening Program

 Brooklyn-native Karisma Jay is a true multi-hyphenate—dancer, actress, singer, director, playwright, choreographer, wellness coach, teacher, entrepreneur, and host—whose work has appeared on Netflix, Lifetime, BET, MTV, NBC, and VH1. She has toured with renowned dance companies such as Brooklyn Ballet, Deeply Rooted, Maimouna Keita, Creative Outlet, Asase Yaa, and Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, and began teaching dance at just 11 years old, currently pursuing a Mathematics Education Master’s certificate at City College. As Founder and Executive Artistic Director of AbunDance Academy of the Arts, she writes, directs, produces, and stars in annual musicals, and recently graduated Summa Cum Laude with an MFA in Dance from Hunter College, where she also teaches. She currently teaches at The Juilliard School, Ballet Tech, Broadway Dance Center, and LaGuardia HS, and has earned recognition including Dance Teacher Magazine’s 2021 Dance Teacher Award and the 2023 Woman of Distinction Award. Karisma continues to expand her artistic reach with her short film CROWN, released in 2023, and her upcoming film Pa’Lante, set to debut in May 2025 as a heartfelt tribute to her native Panama. 

Tamika, a Virginia native, holds a BA in Performing Arts & Theatre from The American University and Howard University, and furthered her film studies at the New York Film Academy and AFI. She has worked at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, developed the Academy Gold program, and now serves as the Executive Director of the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), which she created for the DGA and AICP to champion diversity in directing. Her acclaimed screenwriting and directing work includes JAR BY THE DOOR, a Sundance Finalist, the ABC/Walt Disney Fellowship, and the award-winning short film HOPE through AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. As founder of the Make A Film Foundation, she has produced over 100 short docs and four award-winning narrative shorts, including collaborations with Johnny Depp, and has contributed as a producer and writer on MONOGAMY, FERGUSON RISES, and BOURN KIND. This year, Tamika sold two TV series to Paramount and Searchlight, is directing her short Superman Doesn’t Steal, and continues to develop her award-winning work while being repped by Buchwald and RainLA. 

Sybil D. Jatta is a graduate of Arizona State University, BA, and a Masters Degree in Education. She has a rich background in Theater, Musical Theater Productions, Tours, Writing, Singing, Directing and Producing. Her first ever 5 minute short film entitled "A Bullet Don't Got no Name", took us to her days as a teacher at the world famous Crenshaw High School. One of her favorite students gets shot in the head and survives. Richard Lawson featured her film in his short film festival event. Her current full length feature film "Akwaaba The Awakening" has garnished prestigious awards from more than 30 top film festivals around the world. The film has been awarded Best Documentary Feature, Best African American Documentary, Best International Documentary and Best Documentary.
Her motto... "Forward ever backward never"...

Viktoria I.V. King is an acclaimed Award-Winning Multi-Ethnic Director, Writer and Producer known for her boundary-pushing artistry. A finalist for the 2019 ABC Discovers Showcase. Her films have premiered at notable film festivals such as Canadian Screen Award Qualifying, Female Eye Film Festival and Academy Award Qualifying, LA Short International Film Festival, etc.. Projects that she's worked on have also premiered and won awards at Tribeca Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Cinequest Film & VR Film Festival, Asian American Film Festival and many others.

Viktoria's bold cinematic eye and pulse on emotional authenticity is greatly influenced by her international cultural background and her experiences as a world traveler. As a largely visual director, she focuses on narratives that tell the traumas and joys of connection through the lens of truth and social justice.

Dr. Ebor is a professor, researcher, and founding director of the SDSU Health Equity Research Multimedia Lab. Her research and scholarship examines sexual health and wellness outcomes for older adults with a particular focus on racial and ethnic minority women. This research is guided by her interest in ways to improve sexual-health outcomes for African American women and older adults.

Specifically, she develops behavioral health interventions and is particularly interested in harnessing multi-media platforms for health promotion. By merging science and the arts Dr. Ebor aims to make research translational to under-resourced communities through narrative story telling. This research is grounded in her practice experience and interdisciplinary training in social welfare, gerontology, and the arts.

Carolyn Hughes Bronson started her career as a Singer/Songwriter, an ASCAP member opening for Blues acts such Sue Foley and Chris Cain. 

She retired from the road after touring with the world renowned Platters featuring Monroe Powell and pursued her love for Acting. The Theatre inspired her to cowrite an award winning book with Judith Weston called Diverse Dialogues/A Collection of 10 Minute Plays, which was featured on CBS radio, and most recently her first film Wrong Number/Right Time that she executive produced and wrote the screenplay.

Sasha was born 23 years ago and they have been collaborating very closely, ever since, culminating with Sasha & Don making this film together! Don studied directing at the American Film Institute, Greystone Mansion, under Billy Wilder. Acting intensive with Peggy Fuery. Master Class with Lee Strasberg. Written and directed plays in Hollywood and The Actor's Studio. Learned about camera and lighting from Sven Nykvist.  

 Debbie Camper is an alum of Goucher College where she graduated Cum Laude and  received her Bachelor's degree in English, with a minor in Communications and a  Concentration in Writing. From there, she pursued and completed her Master's degree  in Film and Video at American University in DC. Her thesis film, “Me, Myself, Not I,”  developed during her last year there, was accepted into film festivals and won a couple  of awards including People’s Choice Best Short Film Under 20 min and an Award of  Merit for Production. After graduation, she landed a job at a media production/post  production company. She worked as a Project Manager and Associate Producer for 2.5  years, managing media projects and assisting on corporate shoots in scripting,  interviewing, and basic editing. After her time there, she transitioned to working at a  video crewing company, where she worked her way up from Production Assistant, up to  her current title, Senior Production Manager. In those positions, she started from  assisting other PMs in finding crews for shoots, to coordinating the shoots herself. She  has been there for over 9 years. While working full-time, she is also an independent  filmmaker. She wrote, directed, and produced her first indie film, “It’s Still Not About Me”  a 47min narrative film that was accepted into 10 film festivals and won many awards  including Best Narrative Feature, Best Local Short, Best Women Filmmaker, and a  Fierberg Jury Prize. It’s being screened at the 25th AAWIC Film Festival. She’s  developing her next indie film, “Dissonance,” as a full-length narrative feature, to be  produced summer of 2025. 

Meron Tebeje is a filmmaker, storyteller and archival producer. Her career began in the context of community organizing, where she used visual media to document grassroots movements, and direct actions. Meron’s work is rooted in a passion for reclaiming and reshaping narratives, particularly those that have been historically misrepresented.

In addition to visual storytelling, Meron has a strong background in archival production and research, where she has collaborated on projects requiring extensive historical investigation, documentation, and curation. Her expertise in archival research and production enables her to unearth vital materials that preserve and highlight important stories.

Filmmakers find their voice in many ways. For "ET", it could have come from her time serving in the US Army, or maybe through her experiences living in eight different states and three countries with her husband of thirty years and their three children. Whatever the cause, the effect is evident in the thoughtful and sophisticated characters that live in her stories and the relatable worlds in which they live. ET creates through the lens of a black woman living in a universe that lacks understanding or empathy for her plight. Their aptitude is on display in her lateste film, Writers in the Shadows.

Zoey Martinson is a comedy and genre writer-director with an MFA from NYU Tisch, whose work spans theater, film, and television, including Off-Broadway and international productions. Her feature The Fisherman premiered at the Venice Biennale Film Festival, winning UNESCO's Fellini Medal, and her TV credits include writing and directing Incomplete for Hulu/Disney+’s Bite Size Halloween (NAACP Image Award nominee 2023), directing all six episodes of A24’s Ziwe on Showtime, and writing for HBO Max’s Betty. A Project Greenlight finalist featured on Max, her short Cupids premiered at Tribeca and was later broadcast on BET and CBS, earning an NAACP Image Award nomination in 2022. Zoey’s other directing credits include Uthandiwe for South Africa’s DSTV MzansiMagic, ABC/Disney Discovers Talent, and the award-winning short La Oposición at SXSW’s Casa Mexico Program. She is a Warner Bros. Discovery Director Class 2023/24 alum, a recipient of several prestigious fellowships and awards, and has been recognized by Popsugar and American Theatre Magazine as a rising voice in storytelling. 

Sharna “Ms. J” Jenkins, a Harlem-born self-taught writer and classically trained singer, is a LaGuardia High School alum who has spent over 20 years using theater to empower youth by addressing real-life issues. She was honored by the NAACP and received Long Island’s “Pathfinders Woman’s Award” in 2013 for her dedication to the arts and young people. Her acclaimed play Like Me Love Me Love You toured colleges and had a successful three-year Off-Broadway run. In 2016, she wrote and directed for Cardi B’s breakout tour and later created the Amazon Prime series Sister’s Keeper, which earned five-star ratings and international film festival recognition. Sharna continues to write and direct impactful projects, including Fearless Being, My Father’s Son, and the sizzle for her feature screenplay Desperate Decision.

Naya Ryan Rashad began her creative journey with writing as a solitary practice, which blossomed into a passion for storytelling in community through theater. After moving to San Francisco, she sought to reconnect with herself and her artistic voice. This journey led her to become a children’s author, where she nurtured imagination and connection. Her path evolved as she discovered the transformative power of screenwriting, opening a new chapter in visual storytelling. Today, Naya brings heart, depth, and purpose to every script she writes and directs. 

Iman Alexander is a visual artist of Senegalese and Mauritanian descent, raised in Jersey City. Her passion for filmmaking arose as a dancer who was lent a Panasonic DVX camera to shoot dance videos at her hometown studio. Soon after she had the pleasure of being chosen as a fellow at Public Assistants Youth Filmmaking Fellowship, becoming enveloped with nonfiction filmmaking. During her studies at Pratt Institute (26’) she was greatly inspired by the third cinema and questions of visibility posed in early film theory, moving her work into hybrid forms. She explores the interplay between collective making and performance. Iman’s work prioritizes the experiential, like in her essay short film “Tapette”, officially selected for the Solar House AfriKunt Exhibit. Ironically, as an editor and documentarian she takes issue with visualizations specifically due to the history of visualizing against her respective African femme queer and muslim communities. Her view on visual art is one that prioritizes the liberation of art practices to all, she is extremely passionate about accessible filmmaking. Films shape our worldview, and that power must be held by all who wish to reimage the way the world was shaped to view them. 

MacKenzie Kerrington Galloway, originally from Detroit, holds a bachelor's degree in French Broadcast Journalism from American University, where she earned awards for her work in journalism.
She has interned with FOX 5 D.C., SiriusXM, and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, whom she now serves full-time as Digital Media Manager. In 2020, she wrote, directed, and self-produced her first film amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
MacKenzie is currently pursuing her MFA in Writing for TV and Film at Emerson College. Her body of work includes dozens of scripts and several films, including two shot on location in Italy. 

Stacey Larkins is an award winning filmmaker, writer and musician residing in the New York city metropolitan area. She has shot written, directed, composed and edited several short films that have played in numerous festivals across the country. Her films have also been featured on Kweli TV, Shorts TV as well as Aspire TV’s Urban Indie Film Block.

She has also written work for theater, that has been produced by theatrical production companies in New York City and in the U.K.

Medhin Tewolde Serrano is Eritrean-Mexican and lives in Chiapas. Upon completing her studies in documentary filmmaking, she became concerned with telling the stories of others. Since then, she has dedicated herself to accompanying participatory video and community communication processes in Spain, Tunisia, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. In accompanying these processes, her own process of identity construction as a woman of African descent was revealed to her. This led her to direct her first feature-length documentary: ‘Negra’. During this process, she learned of the story of Gaspar Yanga, an Afro-Mexican hero who, unfortunately, is little known. For this reason, she decided to create an animated short film inspired by his biography and entitled ‘Nyanga’. It is an homage to marroonage yesterday and today.

The daughter of Trinidadian immigrants and longtime Brooklyn resident and passionate storyteller, Darabie concentrates on telling stories featuring female and BIPOC characters while working with diverse crews. She’s the winner of the 2021 Devery Freeman ’35 Memorial Award in Screenwriting for scifi/horror feature Devotion. Her horror/fantasy pilot Wolf & Root was a 2020 Finalist and scifi pilot Clones was a 2022 Semifinalist, both for Almanack Screenwriters Episodic Lab. In 2022, she co-wrote Trouble Connecting with Kim Marcelino for the Weekend Women’s Film Challenge, directed by Lee Milby. In 2023, her action feature Supervillainous was a WGAe and FilmNation NY Screenwriting Fellowship Finalist and Clones was once again a Finalist for the Circle of Confusion Writer Discovery Fellowship. Currently, she works as a Development Associate at Department of Motion Pictures.

Outside of filmmaking, Darabie volunteers at Hollenback Community Garden and previously volunteered for organizations such as Riders4Rights, BedStuy Strong, Reading Partners and the ASPCA.

 Actress. Producer. Author, Speaker  

Recent TV & film projects include being the principal actress in the new feature film Tried By Fire. Other projects include: Production Assistant for America's Got Talent and the producing her first music video "Baby Freestyle" for new artist D2 from the Washington DC area. Malkia has had roles in the following productions: Super Bowl 2016 Commercial, Power, The Other Woman & Boardwalk Empire.

Malkia is a woman who believes in remaining teachable. Evolving and continuing to grow in multiples the many roles of her life, Malkia is committed to never stop creating. She is a beautiful, inspired by life, warm hearted woman of God who desires to impact all those in whom she comes in contact with. When it's not everything real estate and entertainment, Malkia works as an advocate in the area of mental health. She is the Founding President of Empowerment Essence.