2026 Fellows
Kayla Abuda Galang is a filmmaker based in Austin, Texas, drawing from the humor and details of her communities, surroundings, memory, and the television that raised her. With curiosity and care for the fleeting moments that shape identity and belonging, she aims to spark unexpected connection and shared laughter across her work. Her work includes “When You Left Me On That Boulevard” (Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival) and “An Ongoing List of Things...” (World Premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival). She was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, received the Ani ng Dangal from the National Commission for Culture and Arts of the Philippines, and joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a voting member in the Short Films Branch. She is currently developing her first feature film, “On Earth as it is in Heaven,” with Sleepover. She works as a video producer and editor at the University of Texas.
Alejandra Vasquez is a Mexican-American filmmaker raised between rural Texas and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her award-winning films spotlight youth, art & culture, and convey a cinematic sense of place in rural and borderland environments. Her feature directorial debut, co-directed with Sam Osborn, GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI, premiered at Sundance 2023, won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award in the U.S. Documentary Competition, and is now streaming on Netflix.
Her short films include “Folk Frontera” (Independent Lens), winner of Best Texas Short at SXSW; “Baca” (LA Times Short Docs), commissioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); and “When It’s Good, It’s Good” (POV Shorts), a co-production with Latino Public Broadcasting currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.
Alejandra began her career as a producer, contributing to acclaimed documentaries such as MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A. (2018), US KIDS (2020), PLAN C (2023), and most recently co-produced Nanfu Wang’s HBO Original Documentary, NIGHT IS NOT ETERNAL (2024).
Now based in Los Angeles, Alejandra co-founded Masa Films with her partner Sam Osborn, where they are developing, producing, and directing nonfiction and narrative projects. She is writing her first feature script, HALF ORANGE, with support from the SFFILM Rainin Fellowship.
Sam Osborn is a director and editor based in Los Angeles. His most recent film Going Varsity in Mariachi, co-directed with Alejandra Vasquez, premiered at Sundance 2023 and won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award for the U.S. Documentary Competition. It went on to screen at festivals worldwide and is currently streaming on Netflix.
Sam’s debut feature-length documentary as a director, Universe, about Wallace Roney, the only protege of Miles Davis, was awarded Best Music Documentary by the International Documentary Association in 2020.
His short-format films include Folk Frontera, a surrealist portrait of the West Texas borderlands, which won the SXSW Jury Award for Texas Shorts; Night Shift, a series for Topic about New Yorkers who work the graveyard shift; and Language Keepers, a hybrid documentary project meant to help sustain the endangered Athabaskan language of Gwich’in, which premiered at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
Sam is also a producer and editor of special documentary projects at The Nocturnists, a long-running medical storytelling podcast. His work on the series Shame in Medicine: The Lost Forest and Post-Roe America won consecutive Anthem Awards and was nominated for a Webby in Best Limited-Series & Specials.
Before starting Masa Films, Sam worked as a commercial and branded-content director for such brands as Covergirl, Walmart, Tinder, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. His work as a documentary filmmaker began at VICE (RIP), directing films for series such as Toxic, Americana, and Vice News.
Imani Davis is film programmer at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and also a producer and writer. At the American Cinematheque, a 501c3 nonprofit boasting over 1,600 film screenings a year, Imani has worked to put on events with A-list filmmakers and talent such as Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, Sean Baker, Jordan Peele, Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), Damien Chazelle, Christopher Nolan, and many more. Imani is also the founder and lead programmer of the American Cinematheque's newest short film festival called PROOF, which is the only festival completely dedicated to proof-of-concept short films.
Tim Kirkman’s debut feature DEAR JESSE, received Emmy, Gotham, GLAAD and Spirit Award nominations and was named Best Documentary by the Boston Society of Film Critics. He wrote and directed the Sundance hit LOGGERHEADS; and LAZY EYE (Netflix); He also directed the features THE NIGHT LARRY KRAMER KISSED ME and 2ND SERVE, and produced Joanna Gleason’s THE GROTTO. Recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Award, Tim’s most recent film, the acclaimed documentary short FREEMAN VINES (co-directed by André Robert Lee) won audience awards at Tallahassee Film Festival and the 12 Lions Film Festival. He is the creator and host of the forthcoming Reel Lives Podcast.
Paris Burris (she/her) is a filmmaker and film programmer based in Oklahoma City. She serves as the Short Film Programmer for deadCenter Film Festival, Oklahoma's largest and only Oscar®-qualifying festival, and is the founder of Femme Film, a monthly series dedicated to showcasing films by femmes for free to the Oklahoma community.
Paris shares her insights on Indigenous media through the Reel Indigenous Podcast and is passionate about creating independent films with her friends. She is also dedicated to discovering and sharing underseen films with wider audiences. A proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, Paris is committed to amplifying diverse voices in film.
Rob Munday is a Senior Programmer and Managing Editor at Short of the Week, where he has spent over 16 years championing the art of short film. Deeply passionate about the medium’s ability to spotlight emerging talent, amplify underrepresented voices, and share stories that might not be told elsewhere, Rob plays a key role in shaping the platform’s editorial vision. He is also the co-founder of Directors Notes, an independent film website dedicated to celebrating the work of innovative filmmakers worldwide.
Liz Rao is a Gotham-award nominated feature filmmaker, recently named a Vimeo Breakout Creator of the Year 2025 for Writing and Directing THE TRUCK. Rao is based in Brooklyn, with roots in Missouri, Tennessee, and Illinois, and is a Hear Us Grantee for her debut feature screenplay. In May, Rao will earn her MFA at NYU Grad Film, in Screenwriting and Directing https://www.elizabethrao.com/
Hannah Schierbeek is a Chicago based writer, director, and producer. Utilizing the North American Midwest as her cosmos, Hannah's films explore intimate interpersonal stories backdropped by today’s socioecological dilemmas. Her short film A Black Hole Near Kent County premiered at the 2024 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and her short film Radiant Frost premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Hannah is an alumni of the 2025 Berlinale Talents.
Aaron Chokbengboun is an overland and travel content creator living and working on the road, building a life rooted in adventure and freedom. He documents real-world travel, work-camping experiences, and the gear that supports long-term life outdoors—sharing both the highs and the hard moments that come with full-time travel. From alpine passes and backcountry roads to campfire mornings and long drives between destinations, his content focuses on honest storytelling and showing that adventure doesn’t have to be an escape. It can be a sustainable lifestyle built through intention, creativity, and a deep love for the outdoors.