Born in 1961 in Cleveland, OH. Leslie Harris is a promising young American filmmaker whose first feature-length film, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T., concerns a teenage girl's coming of age in the Brooklyn projects. The movie achieved recognition and acclaim for its writer-director at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, a major event that provides exposure for independent filmmakers. After being awarded the Special Jury Prize for Distinction at Sundance, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. was released nationally in February of 1993 to good reviews. The Washington Post called it a "breakthrough film," while Rolling Stone called Harris "a bracing new voice." Harris is a graduate of Denison University, B.F.A., 1982; and studied film at New York University. She worked for an advertising agency in New York City during summer of junior year at Denison; relocated to New York City after graduating in 1982; worked at various jobs in New York while writing first feature-length film script; Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. released by Miramax in 1992. Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/leslie-harris

“…Trinh T. Minh-ha builds much of her work around the theme of the ‘other’ (the persona one considers him/herself to be in relation to), challenging cultural theorists' traditional notions of the subject or/subjected duality. She performed three year's worth of ethnographic field research in West Africa the Research Expedition Program of the University of California, Berkeley. This fieldwork led in part to her first film, Reassemblage, which was filmed in Senegal and released in 1982.”   -“Biography/Criticism,” University of Minnesota, accessed November 21, 2012, http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/trinhT.php

Annemarie Jacir has been working in independent film since 1994 and has written, directed and produced a number of films, including a ‘post oslo history’ (1998), ‘The Satellite Shooters’ (2001), and ‘like twenty impossibles,’ (2003). She has taught courses in Columbia Bethlehem and Burzeit universities. ‘Salt of this Sea’ (2008) was her first feature film and second work to debut at Cannes Film Festival. She also co-founded Philistine Films, an independent production company that focuses on productions related to the Arab and Iranian world. Her 2012 film, ‘When I saw you’ has been selected as the Palestinian entry for Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards. Source:  Rasha Salti, The National, “Stranger than Paradise,” Institute for Middle East Understanding, September 9, 2008, accessed December 17, 2012, http://imeu.net/news/article0014155.shtml

"WU TSANG is a Los Angeles based artist and filmmaker. His artworks and performances have been presented at the 2012 Whitney Biennial and New Museum Triennial in New York, the ICA Philadelphia, MOCA Los Angeles, the Gwangju Biennial (South Korea) and upcoming at the Liverpool Biennial (UK). Tsang was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's “25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2012." -wutsang.com

This film is the directorial debut of Wirtschafter, who was previously a TV writer. Her father is manager-producer Franklin Lett and her step-mother is actress Della Reese, who is also in this film. Compiled from information from lukeford.net and Michael Rechtshaffen for the Hollywood Reporter

After earning an undergraduate degree in theater at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Angela Robinson moved to New York and attended NYU for film. In 2002, Robinson won a grant from Power Up to finance her short film, DEBS. A year later, Robinson made her feature film debut with a full-length version of D.E.B.S. (2005). This led to her landing a big budget film for Disney -- Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), starring Lindsay Lohan. Robinson lives in LA. -Angela Robinson Bio, Tribute.ca, http://www.tribute.ca/people/angela-robinson/13740/

Ms Perkins is an established filmmaker who has contributed extensively to the development of indigenous filmmakers in Australia and, more broadly, the Australian film industry. In addition to her experience as an executive producer for both the ABC and SBS, Ms Perkins has had a successful film and documentary-making career. Ms Perkins is from the Arrernte and Kalkadoon nations. She has previously served on the Council of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, the NSW FTO, the Australia Film Commission, and is a founding member of the National Indigenous Television Service. From blackfellafilms.com.au

Alice Wu is a American film director and screenwriter. Alice Wu was born and raised in San Jose, California, where she graduated from Los Altos High School. In 1990, she received her B.A. in Computer Science from Stanford University. Two years later, she completed her Master's degree in Computer Science at Stanford. Before being a filmmaker, Wu worked as a software engineer for Microsoft in Seattle. She then left the corporate world to pursue a filmmaking career full time. Wu's most noted work is her 2004 film, Saving Face. It was inspired by her own experiences coming out as a lesbian in the Chinese American community. ¨       - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/alice_wu/biography.php, Alice Wu Biography, Rotten Tomatoes

“Cauleen Smith was born in Riverside, California and grew up in the Sacramento area. She completed her B.A. at San Francisco State University in 1991 and her M.F.A. in Film at UCLA in 1998. Her feature length film Drylongso received a lot of attention after its showing at the Sundance Film Festival. It earned Smith the Movado Someone to Watch Award as well as Best Feature Film at the Urbanworld Film Festival and the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival in 2000. Since then she has been very busy, completing many films including The Fullness of Time which was filmed in New Orleans only two years after Hurricane Katrina hit. Her most recent project is an experimental documentary about the late Chicago-based jazz artist Sun-Ra, whose eclectic style changed the Chicago jazz scene forever. Smith teaches in the Visual Arts department at the University of California, San Diego and continues to write, direct, and produce.” ("IMDB" - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0807646/bio)

Terence Nance is comes from a Dallas family of actors, photographers, and musicians.. He studied visual art at New York University where he developed his art making practice to include mixed-media installation, music, and film. Terence is currently bicoastal, residing in both Oakland, CA and Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn - along with the rest of The Swarm, an independent collective for artists of color in NYC. -Festival Scope, https://www.festivalscope.com/director/nance-terence