Michael Omonua is a Nigerian - British film director and screen writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. He has made several short films and one feature film. His last short film Rehearsal (2021) had its world premiere in competition at the 71st Berlinale. It screened at over 30 film festivals including Kurzfilm Winterthur.
He directed a short 27-minute segment in the supernatural anthology feature film Juju Stories (2021) that was in competition at the 74th Locarno Film Festival (Boccalino d’Oro award). 

Synopsis : Through a series of well-crafted miracle healings and exorcisms, a fake Pastor develops a large following; but his livelihood is threatened when the church that hired him decides to expose him. 

Galatians directed by Michael Omonua / Produced by Abba T. Makama (Polka Dot Films LTD) 

Yoro Mbaye is a Senegalese filmmaker who films modern-day society in his country through short fiction films and documentaries. Black Day, a film about police violence, was selected in several international film festivals including Clermont-Ferrand. Yoro took part in the Ouaga Film Lab 2021 with Fagadaga, receiving four awards: Sud Ecriture, Groupe Ouest, Ateliers de l’Atlas and the ALCA Nouvelle Aquitaine Award. He has also been given support for screenwriting from the CNC and was part of the Cité Internationale des Arts residency 2022 with the support of IF Dakar. 

Synopsis : When a man is forced to harm others in order to survive and protect his family, and chooses honour over the good of his community. 

Fagadaga directed by Yoro Mbaye / Produced by Souleymane Kebe (Astou Productions) 

Charlie Nawel Kouka was born in Tunisia where she studied optometry before the cinema changed her life. She moved to France in 2015 to study Directing at the Fémis. While studying, she made several short films including Le Retour which was bought by ARTE. She is currently working on her first feature film, Leïla’s Trial. 

Synopsis : In Cité Nour, a dilapidated district of a small Tunisian town, a young girl of 14 who performs miracles divides the neighborhood: is she a witch or a saint? 

Leïla’s Trial directed by Charlie Kouka / Produced by Cyrine Sellami (Nomadis Images) 

Lucila Mariani studied filmmaking at Universidad del Cine. She made several shorts that screened in festivals such as: Wekwaindu (2018 - BFI's Future Film Festival), Resonancias (2019 - IFFR, New Directors/New Films at MoMA and Lincoln Center, BAFICI) and Luna que se quiebra sobre la tiniebla de mi soledad (2022 - Locarno, Mar del Plata). She’s finishing her latest short, Magopelusa_1028 (Rendez-vous Industry - SFC - Cannes 2023).

Synopsis : A little girl has to find her way through a city that is full of disappointed adults. She finds different characters online who contribute to her never-ending imagination and feed her desire to escape reality. But things will take an unexpected turn.

The Days Off directed by Lucila Mariani / Produced by Paula Zyngierman (Maravillacine)

Thomas is a Chilean filmmaker focusing on the esoteric and technology. He directed and wrote the short film Austral Fever (2019 - Venice, TIFF, Special Mention at San Sebastian). He also was the cinematographer for The Summer of The Electric Lion (2018 - first prize Cinéfondation, Panavision Award at San Sebastian). He was part of the Locarno Filmmakers Academy 2022 and the Pop Up Film Residency. 

Synopsis : A lost soul wanders through the fjords of Patagonia seeking his lost film.

Erratics directed by Thomas Woodroffe / Produced by Rodrigo Díaz (Fiebre) 

Sofía Quirós Ubeda is an Argentine-Costa Rican director. Her debut feature film Ceniza Negra premiered at the 58th Critics' Week, becoming the first Costa Rican feature to compete in the Cannes Film Festival. Ceniza Negra received the award for Best Film at the Critics' Week of the Cairo Film Festival and represented Costa Rica at the 93rd edition of the Oscars and the 35th edition of the Goya Awards. Awaiting birds is her second feature film. 

Synopsis : In the wake of his mother's illness, a boy becomes attached to a neighbour onto whom he projects the fantasy of a new mum. 

Awaiting Birds directed by Sofía Quirós Ubeda / Produced by Mariana Murillo Quesada (Sputnik Films) 

Ridham Janve trained as a communication designer before finding his calling in the medium of moving images. His debut film, The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain, featured at leading international film festivals and won several awards. Apart from making films, he writes, paints and sculpts, pushing the boundaries of form and often landing in unexplored territories. 

Synopsis : In this epic tale of survival, self-discovery and sacrifice, a slave-turned-stable boy participates in an ancient conquest ritual led by a powerful king, only to realize the propaganda and violence surrounding the sacrificial horse he is assigned to protect. 

The Sacrifice directed by Ridham Janve / Produced by Kartikeya Singh (The Film Cafe) 

Arvin Belarmino is a Filipino filmmaker who was raised both in provincial Cavite and the urban capital of Manila. Arvin directed several experimental and narrative short films that garnered critical acclaim both on the local and international stage. He was selected for the 2022 Festival De Cannes Cinéfondation La Residence for his first feature project, Ria and won the Centre National du Cinema (CNC) award. Arvin is an alumnus of Talents Tokyo, Locarno Filmmakers Academy, and Produire Au Sud Workshop Nantes. 

Synopsis : With a chronically-ill foster mother and their community in peril, an orphaned folk-punk musician meddles in the illegal porn industry to make ends meet. 

RIA directed by Arvin Belarmino / Produced by Kristine de Leon (MUD Studios) 

Dania Bdeir is a Lebanese-Canadian filmmaker. In White, her NYU graduate thesis film, received the Spike Lee Production Fund and had its world premiere at Clermont-Ferrand. Bdeir's latest short film Warsha won the Jury Prize for the Best International Fiction Short at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and has been selected at over 250 festivals. Selected as one of ScreenDaily's Arab Stars of Tomorrow, Bdeir is currently developing her first feature film Pigeon Wars, which received development financing from Telefilm Canada and was selected for Cine Qua Non, Le Groupe Ouest, Atlas Workshops (Marrakech) and the 2023 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. 

Synopsis: Rana, a college student trying to reconcile a difficult secret from her past, becomes obsessed with conquering the male-dominated Pigeon Wars of Beirut and beating the local "Pigeon king". 

Pigeon Wars directed by Dania Bdeir / Produced by Pierre Sarraf (Né à Beryouth Films) 

Nada Riyadh is an Egyptian director and screenwriter. Her debut documentary film, Happily Ever After, had its premiere at Idfa, in 2016. Her short fiction film Fakh (The Trap) was selected for the official competitions of the Semaine de la Critique at the Festival de Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019.  She is now in post-production of her second feature documentary, Land of Women, co-directed with Ayman El Amir. 

Synopsis: 12-year-old Nour escapes Cairo after stabbing her sexually abusive father, and becomes Badr, an androgynous teenager who assists a blessed healer in an isolated village in cleansing young girls with mysterious illnesses in the river. 

Moonblind directed by Nada Riyadh / Produced by Ayman El Amir (Felucca Films)