Mike Plante is a senior programmer for short films at the Sundance Film Festival, where he has worked since 2001. Each year he and a team of 9 shorts programmers go through over 10,000 entries to select 70 shorts to play at the Festival, discovering new film talent in the process. He has worked at film festivals since 1993, and he also makes feature documentaries. His recent film AND WITH HIM CAME THE WEST (2019) played at MoMA Doc Fortnight and his short THE POLAROID JOB (2017) is available at The New York Times Op-Docs.

Mariama Diallo is a Brooklyn-based writer-director. Her debut feature, Master, from Amazon Studios, was released in March 2022 after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Previous work includes the short films Hair Wolf (Sundance 2018) and White Devil (TIFF 2021), as well as HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness. She has been featured in Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and Filmmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. more...

Francisca Alegría was born and raised in Chile. She holds an MFA in screenwriting and directing from Columbia University. Alegría’s short film AND THE WHOLE SKY FIT IN THE DEAD COW’S EYE premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Short Film Jury Award. Alegría was a fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Directors Labs with her debut feature THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE, which premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. more...

Anna Kerrigan is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker with a background in independent film, digital storytelling and theater. COWBOYS, which she wrote and directed, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2020 where it won Best Screenplay, and Best Actor for Steve Zahn. Her short film HOT SEAT premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, played at many others and was a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere. more...

Bernardo Britto was born in Rio de Janeiro, grew up in South Florida, and graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His animated short films, including YEARBOOK and GLOVE, have played numerous film festivals and won awards at Sundance, SXSW, AFI Fest, and others. In 2016, he premiered his debut feature film JACQUELINE (Argentine) at Sundance in the NEXT section. more...