CDMX 2025: Collaborating with Actors

Ash Hoyle is a features Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival where he focuses on both fiction, nonfiction, and Midnight. Ash is currently serving as the Guest Festival Director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the first and largest Jewish film festival in the world. He sits on the Advisory Board of the Los Angeles Festival of Movies and has also worked as the Director of Programming of Damn These Heels Film Festival, run by the Utah Film Center, as well as a Senior Programmer at Outfest Los Angeles and a Programmer at Palm Springs Shorts Fest. Ash is a 2021 Project Involve Fellow on Film Independent’s programming track and has also been involved in programming NewFest NY, Sun Valley Film Festival, Overlook Film Festival, and AFI Fest and worked in production at ABC, Mssng Peces, and The Annoyance Theater. Ash is originally from Philadelphia, PA and holds a dual degree in Film & English from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Carmen Emmi is a filmmaker with deep roots in Syracuse, New York, where he grew up in a family of farmers. After graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, he began his career as an independent Director of Photography, contributing to a range of projects, including short films, commercials, and feature-length productions.

His first screenplay, Plainclothes, was recognized in several screenwriting competitions, including placing in the top 50 of the AMPAS Academy Nicholl Fellowship. Set in 1997, the film centers on a young undercover officer assigned to entrap gay men in public spaces – and what happens when he falls for a target.

Plainclothes premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Special Jury Award for Ensemble. It is slated to have its U.K. premiere at SXSW London in the Screen Competition. The film stars Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Billy the Kid), Russell Tovey (Feud, American Horror Story: NYC), Maria Dizzia (My Old Ass, Orange Is the New Black), and Amy Forsyth (Coda, The Gilded Age), and marks Emmi’s directorial debut.

Laura Casabé is a film and audiovisual director specializing in genre films. In 2016, she released La Valija de Benavidez, which was presented at the Blood Window Gala at the Cannes Film Festival and toured various film festivals, including Sitges, Bafici, Sanfic, and Morbido, receiving seven international awards.

In 2019, her film "Los que Vuelven" premiered at the Blood Window Galas and in the Mar del Plata Film Festival Competition. It won Best Ibero-American Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Soundtrack at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. It had its international premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and won Best Director at the Sitges International Film Festival. During 2022, she worked in Mexico, co-wrote with Tomas Downy, and directed the single episode "El Temblor" for the anthology "La hora marcada" (The Marked Hour) on the VIX platform.

In January 2025, her new film, "La Virgen de la Tosquera," based on the story of the same name by author Mariana Enriquez, premiered in official competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

It was then selected to participate in the 2025 official selection of the New Directors New Films Festival at the Film Lincoln Center and MoMA in New York, at TIFF New Wave in Canada, and at the Cartagena Film Festival. It was also part of the official competition at BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Film Festival), where it won Best Director, Best Sound, and the Grand Prize for Best Argentine Film.

La virgen de la Tosquera is currently continuing its tour of festivals.

An accomplished actress with a distinguished career in theater, Fernanda Echevarría Del Rivero has been a key member of several renowned companies. Her most notable stage credits include Beautiful Julia by Maribel Carrasco, directed by Boris Schoemann; Peek Chuun, under the direction of Diego Álvarez Robledo; and Un Vestido, a collaborative creation with Patricio Ruiz and Gabriela Guraieb.

Her film work has also garnered critical acclaim. She received the Best Actress award at the Pantalla de Cristal Awards for her performance in the feature film Celeste Soledad. She also lent her voice as the lead narrator in the documentary Frida, which has been featured at prestigious international festivals, including Sundance.

Most recently, she portrays Silvia in The Virgin of Quarry Lake , a film by Laura Casabe inspired by the short stories of Mariana Enríquez.