I am Japanese documentary director!

Dawn Mikkelson (Producer/Editor/Additional Cinematography) Emmy Award winning producer and McKnight Filmmaking Fellow, whose work has broadcast, streamed and screened internationally. Festival screenings of her feature documentaries include: the Galway Film Fleadh, Cinequest, Mill Valley Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, DOC NYC, Frameline Film Festival, and American Indian Film Festival. Broadcast and streaming include: APT (American Public Television), PBS, CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corporation), Yes-Docu (Israel), Deutsche Welle (Germany), iTunes, and Amazon Prime. Mikkelson has completed seven award-winning independent feature documentaries, MINNESOTA MEAN (2023), FINDING HER BEAT (2022), RISKING LIGHT (2018), THE RED TAIL (2009), GREEN GREEN WATER (2007), THIS OBEDIENCE (2003), and TREADING WATER: A DOCUMENTARY (1999), character-driven films highlighting power and joy in the margins.

Proud member of the DPA Board, Co-Representative of the Midwest Region and Member of the Ethics Committee.

PJ Raval is a queer, first generation Filipinx American filmmaker whose work examines social justice issues through the voices of queer and marginalized subjects.

I am a Berlin, Dakar and Cape Town based film director and producer, specializing in capturing authentic high-end cinematic experiences for documentaries, non-fictional content productions, and selected commercial collaborations.

A multiple award-winning career led to being distributed on all major networks such as Netflix, Prime Video, and ARD+. My intention is to create excitement and awareness. I like to work with honest humans. Heartfelt, ambitious, sharp, and compassionate humans, who not only transform their surroundings towards a more positive future - they want to rewrite narratives with the power and the spirit to open up our hearts and minds. I am a member of the International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA).

Jess Epstein is an independent documentary producer who has been working in documentary film and unscripted television for over 10 years. She has worked in the U.S. and abroad, producing both long and short-format content, including feature-length documentaries, LOS ÚLTIMOS FRIKIS and CANDACE PARKER: UNAPOLOGETIC (ESPN / FILM-45), both of which premiered at DOC NYC. Her most recent project, REMAINING NATIVE, directed by Paige Bethmann, which premiered at SXSW in 2025 and received both the Special Jury and Audience awards. She is currently producing the feature documentary, DADDY, directed by Hannah Myers. She is a PGA Create Documentary Fellow, CNN Points North American Stories Documentary Fellow, and a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Grantee for this project. She is also an impact strategist, recently working with Loren Waters on her short documentary film, ᏗᏂᏠᎯ ᎤᏪᏯ (MEET ME AT THE CREEK) (BSDFF 2024) and TIGER (Sundance 2024). She holds a BA from NYU Gallatin and MA from BARUCH Cuny. In addition to producing, Jessica is the Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships at BAVC Media.