Writer / Director NATALIA IYUDIN had her start in the industry as a TV editor for MTV, BET and PBS. She lead development on docu-series “Girly” with Rashida Jones, Refinery29 and the UN Foundation, and “Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip Hop” for Netflix. She directed for mental health campaigns around teen suicide and opioid crises, and on several projects for Toyota. She co-created and directed “We Got You,” an award-winning series featuring “Black Thought” of The Roots. Iyudin made her directorial TV debut with two episodes of the elevated horror anthology for the Warner Brothers’ Stage 13, “Two Sentence Horror Stories” currently on Netflix. Her newest documentary is “One Story at a Time: Celeste Licesne” about the iconic LGBQT+ activist.

Kashka Glowacka

Producer KASHKA GLOWACKA is a film producer and Northguild co-founder based in New York. Over the past 20 years, she has led diverse projects, including documentaries, fiction films, and commercials. Key projects include the 2017 documentary “Vicarious Resilience,” the 2019 fantasy feature “It’s A Fairytale After All,” and the 2023 “One Story at a Time – Celeste Lecesne.” As a Producer for NEA’s Creative Forces, Glowacka brings years of management experience to highlight stories of veterans using the fine and performing arts to heal trauma. Glowacka’s career showcases a deep commitment to telling stories focusing on social impact, civil rights, and personal empowerment. 

Sam Pollard

Executive Producer SAM POLLARD is an Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated director and producer. His films for HBO, PBS, and the Discovery Channel include the documentaries “Four Little Girls,” “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” (both with long-time collaborator Spike Lee), “Slavery by Another Name,” “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I Gotta Be Me,” “ACORN and the Firestorm,” “Why We Hate,” and “Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children.” Pollard also directed two episodes of the groundbreaking series “Eyes on the Prize.” Since 1994 Pollard has served on the faculty of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. 

Ross Kaufman

Executive Producer ROSS KAUFFMAN’S career spans over three decades in the film industry, beginning as a documentary film editor for major broadcasters such as HBO, WNET/THIRTEEN, National Geographic, and The Discovery Channel. His directorial achievements include the Academy Award-winning documentary “Born Into Brothels” and acclaimed films like “E-Team,” “Tigerland,” “What Would Sophia Loren Do?,” “Of Medicine and Miracles,” and “Wild Wild Space.” Ross is also known for directing the viral short film “Fire with Fire” and contributing as a director to “The Me You Can’t See,” a mental health series for Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry. Beyond filmmaking, he specializes in short-form documentaries and socially conscious branded content and currently teaches and guest lectures around the globe.

Nicholas Weissman

Producer NICHOLAS WEISSMAN is an EP and director at Vacationland, a documentary studio that makes uncommon films on common ground. With over 15 years of experience in production, Weissman has led projects for major print and network news outlets. He is passionate about telling stories that help make the world make sense, collaborating with a community of award-winning filmmakers across the globe. He has worked with commercial clients such as Amex, Land Rover, Cadillac, Volvo, British Airways, Ray Ban, Visit California, Nike, Levi’s, Microsoft, and Intel; and traveled to more than 20 countries to capture and share diverse perspectives and experiences. His feature, “For Ahkeem, “premiered at Berlinale Film Festival and won a 2018 Cinema Eye Honors Award. Recent films include “We the Power” for Patagonia, “Havana Libre,” “A Wonderful Kingdom,” and “Row of Life”. 

Executive Producer ULKA SNIEGOWSKA is the head of the annual American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, and the US in Progress program dedicated to matching American and Polish independent film projects. She is a programming advisor to the New Horizons International FF. Formerly the curator of film and art at the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Ulka also served as Juror at multiple US and European festivals (Cannes La Quinzaine Section, Berlinale Panorama and Forum, Sarajevo, Cluj, Krakow), Cleveland, and Denver. She is a member of the European Film Academy and the recipient of the Medal of Merit from the Republic of Lithuania.

Bongani Mlambo

Writer / Cinematographer BONGANI MLAMBO is Zimbabwean South African cinematographer based in Los Angeles, whose recent projects include features “We’re All Gonna Die” by Rocketjump duo Freddie Wong and Matt Arnold; “All Creatures” directed by Collin Schiffli, starring David Dastmalchian and Karen Gillan; “The Virgin of Highland Park” by Sonia Sebastian, starring Penelope Ann Miller and Dermot Mulroney; “Three Days In August” by Johnathan Brownlee; and “Upstream Color” by Shane Carruth. His TV/streaming work includes “The Hair Tales” TV series by Tracee Ellis Ross and Michaela Angela Davis for OWN, Onyx Collective, and Hulu; and “Waffles and Mochi Holiday Feast” special for Netflix and the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company.

David Goldfarb

Writer DAVID A. GOLDFARB is a scholar of Polish and Russian literature and literary theory who has worked in academia, in public and cultural diplomacy, and as a literary translator. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the CUNY Graduate Center, M.A. in Slavic from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Cornell and Deep Springs College. He has published articles in scholarly journals and anthologies as well as introductions to a variety of Polish and Russian authors including Bruno Schulz, Witold Gombrowicz, Zbigniew Herbert, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, and others. 

Ania Perzanowska

Executive Producer / Head of Research ANIA PERZANOWSKA is co-founder of Momentum Artists Management. Since 2007, she has served as the Music Curator for the Polish Cultural Institute New York and worked on presenting events and concerts in partnership with such diverse institutions as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, BAM, World Music Festival Chicago, Symphony Space, The Morgan Library, Juilliard, Yale University and many more. Ania has programmed and promoted works of Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Górecki and other titans of Polish music. 


Selected Supporters and Partners:

The Sphinx Orchestra

Maysles Documentary Center

Lincoln Center

The Jewish Museum
Leontyne Price, Celeste Headlee, Kira Thurman, Carol Oja, Stephanie Doktor, & Paul Edwards

Polish Cultural Institute New York
Kino Lorber & YIVO