Joyce Thomas has been a member of the Directors Guild of America since 1996 and has worked at CBS for more than 40 years, currently serving as an Associate Director/Technical Supervisor at the New York Media Distribution Center. A dedicated Guild leader, Joyce is serving her third term as Assistant Secretary-Treasurer on the DGA National Board. Her extensive Guild service includes co-chairing the Focus on Women Committee, serving as Co-Chair of the 2022 and 2025 Network Negotiating Committees, and completing four terms as Chair of the Eastern AD/SM/PA Council. She also served as Co-Chair of the Eastern Diversity Steering Committee and co-chaired the AD/SM/PA Council’s 75th Anniversary celebration honoring Sesame Street. A longtime supporter of emerging filmmakers, Joyce has proudly served as both a presenter and judge for the DGA Student Film Awards.

Lisa Cortés is a two-time Emmy Award-winning, Grammy-nominated director and producer known for crafting bold, transformative stories that amplify underrepresented voices and challenge cultural narratives. From executive-producing the Academy Award-winning film Precious to directing and producing the "enthralling documentary" (Variety) Little Richard: I Am Everything, Cortés has consistently created work that ignites conversation and drives cultural impact. Most recently, All The Empty Rooms, a documentary she executive-produced, received the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

Graduate of NYU Tisch Graduate Film School, recipient of the DGA Student Film Award and Film Independent’s Someone to Watch Award, native New Yorker Rashaad Ernesto Green's films include Premature and Gun Hill Road, both premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. He’s directed episodes of Luke Cage, The Chi, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, and Being Mary Jane. He’s been supported by the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Cinereach, IFP, HBO, NBC, Time Warner, Warner Bros., Humanitas New Voices, Jerome Foundation, National Association of Latino Independent Producers, and National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. He’s currently in pre-production on his next feature.

Afia directed episodes of Chicago Med and became the first Pakistani-American female director to be hired by a US network/studio in episodic directing (one-hour drama). Variety says, "Nathaniel proves her mettle in a national industry where distaff directors are rare". Afia’s debut feature Dukhtar - a road trip thriller - premiered at Toronto (2014) and was Pakistan’s Oscar entry that year. Her latest short film Don’t be late, Myra - a survival thriller - was Oscar-qualified for Best Live Action Short Film (2026). Afia’s work has been supported by: HBO, National Geographic, Netflix. She teaches Film/TV courses at Boston University.

Against A Sharp White Background
directed by Asahni Williams

This documentary explores the integration of schools through a lens rarely discussed: that of Zora Neale Hurston, a towering Black intellectual who openly opposed integration. Using her perspective as a starting point, Against a Sharp White Background reveals the often-ignored realities of what happened when Black students were pushed into hostile white institutions. Black students were subjected to abuse, discrimination, and isolation in classrooms that no longer reflected their communities or cultures. Today, we see the aftershocks in the form of "colorblind" curriculums, the whitewashing of our narratives, and the erasure of our voices.

La Mar
directed by Jean Chapiro

The ocean is swallowing El Bosque. Once a vibrant fishing village on the coast of Tabasco, Mexico, it now sits in ruins. As tides rise and homes collapse, Guadalupe Cobos - a fisher, mother, and advocate - leads a relentless fight to secure a new future for her community, even if it means leaving behind the only home they’ve ever known.

I Love My Shower
directed by Ainsley Wiseman

When Annalise's girlfriend, Jade, accepts a job in another state, she must learn to move on while grappling with the memories of their relationship. I Love My Shower is an ode to the intimacy of knowing whose towel is whose, having full conversations on the toilet, recognizing a partner’s moisturizer by smell, and the gentleness of someone rinsing your hair. In turn, it showcases the grief of these quiet moments during Annalise’s heartbreak.

Parkside East
directed by Taylor Sanghyun Lee

Ignored by the tenants he serves, a lonely doorman at a NYC sky-rise searches for human connection. Parkside Eastexplores this conflict through Chang-Hoon, a Korean doorman in a tech-saturated world, whose small acts of empathy push against the creeping heartlessness of modern life. When he tries to help Teresa, a tenant who has largely ignored him, her reaction highlights how often we reject those who extend kindness.