THE 2026 FILM JURY
••• Developing •••

(Some Remote, Some In Person)

Renowned Cultural Trailblazers
Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits, 5th year!

In a career that spans over four decades, singer-songwriter Tom Waits has adventurously delved into recording, literature, film and theater, as both actor and composer. His music, recognized for its distinctive orchestrations and arrangements, has ranged from country, blues, cabaret, waltz and field hollers to gospel, polkas and marches. He has recorded over 20 albums including Bad As Me and appeared in well over 20 films including, Ironweed, Dracula, Down By Law, Short Cuts, Book of Eli and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, working with such maverick directors like Jim Jarmusch, Terry Giliam, Francis Ford Coppola, Hughes Brothers, Hector Barbenco and Robert Altman. Waits and his long-time collaborator and wife, Kathleen Brennan, were named number four in a list of the “100 Best Living Songwriters” published by America’s Paste magazine. Paste said “In literature only a handful of writers have pulled off the near impossible. In music, it happens on every Tom Waits recording”. Tom and Kathleen were also awarded the PEN Award of Literary Excellence for their songwriting.   Tom’s acting performances in film include: – Father Mother Sister Brother – Licorice Pizza – The Dead Don’t Die – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – The Old Man & the Gun – Seven Psychopaths – The Book of Eli – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Wristcutters: A Love Story – Domino – La Tigre e la Neve (The Tiger and the Snow) – Coffee and Cigarettes – Mystery Men – Dracula – Down By Law

WELCOME OUR FIRST JUDGE FROM ABROAD!

Yasmin Rais

An independent film producer born in Iran and based in London. She co-produced “Shot in the Dark,” Adrian Grenier’s feature documentary which premiered at Tribeca, and was picked up by HBO. She’s since produced a number of short films ~ “When the Rain Comes” starring Dervla Kirwan & Holly Gibbs – written and directed by Jade Bell, “The Ring Cycle” starring Natalie Dormer & Emun Elliott – written and directed by Erin Cramer and most recently “Dressed to the Nines,” currently on the festival circuit, starring Daniel Ings & Reggie Absolom – co-written and directed by Mads Shenai & Eve Mazza-Coates. She also co-produced the BIFA long-listed short film “What We Wished We Could Be” – starring Jamie Muscato and Anoushka Lucas, directed by Luke Shelley. As a script supervisor, Yasmin worked on numerous film and television productions, including Charlie Brooker’s “Black Mirror,” Stanley Tucci’s”Final Portrait,” Nick Moran’s “Telstar,” Paul Andrew Williams’ “Unfinished Song” and Ruth Jones & James Corden’s “Gavin and Stacey.” She is currently developing a slate of feature films and tv shows through her production company, Dogmother Films. She is a member of BAFTA Connect, and adores Wilco.

Ed Begley Jr. Hollywood Veteran Joins Our Film Festival for the 5th Year

Inspired to be an actor by the works of his Academy Award-winning father, Ed Begley, Jr. caught audiences’ attention for his portrayal of Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the hit TV series “St. Elsewhere,” for which he received six Emmy nominations. Begley has moved easily between feature films, television, and stage productions. Ed has recently appeared in “Amsterdam” with Christian Bale and Margot Robbie, “Book Club” with Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen. He can also be seen in a number of Christopher Guest films, such as “A Mighty Wind,” “Best In Show,” and “For Your Consideration.” He has also appeared in the Seth Rogen/Judd Apatow film “Pineapple Express.” Begley can be seen on “Young Sheldon,” “Modern Family,” “Better Call Saul,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Bless This Mess” (with Lake Bell, Pam Grier, and Dax Shepard), “Six Feet Under,” “Arrested Development,” and “Portlandia.” On stage, Ed starred in David Mamet’s “November” at the Mark Taper Forum and has appeared in several other works by this amazing playwright: “The Cryptogram” in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as “Romance,” also at the Mark Taper Forum. He has written several books, the most recent being “To The Temple Of Tranquility, And Step On It.”

Television Storytelling Powerhouse Cindy Caponera

A native Chicagoan, Cindy Caponera has built an impressive career as a writer, performer, and producer, beginning in theater at the famed Second City Mainstage as well as with The National Touring Company. For the past 20+ years, Cindy—an Emmy Award winner and two-time WGA Award nominee—has been writing and producing for television. She began in sketch comedy with Exit 57 and Saturday Night Live, and has since enjoyed a diverse career spanning both comedy and drama. Her recent notable credits include Nurse Jackie, Shameless, I’m Dying Up Here, At Home with Amy Sedaris, and most recently, The Conners. She has developed shows for nearly every major network, including HBO, FOX, Showtime, ABC, and CBS. An accomplished actress and monologist, her first solo show, Against the Grain, debuted in Chicago to rave reviews, followed by the critically acclaimed The Debutante Ball, which ran in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, and was produced for the Oxygen Network’s Life Out Loud series.

SNL's Laraine Newman, a thriving voice actor and Emmy Nominee joins the film jury, 2nd Year!

An Emmy and Annie-nominated performer, Laraine Newman is a true icon of comedy and a beloved member of the original cast of Saturday Night Live. She co-founded the influential Groundlings Theatre, an institution that has famously nurtured talent for Saturday Night Live. Her remarkable career includes collaborations with visionary directors ranging from Woody Allen to Guillermo Del Toro, showcasing her range and depth as an actor. Beyond the screen, Laraine has built a successful voice acting career in animation (her extensive credits can be explored on IMDb) and is a respected writer with contributions to Esquire, The Believer, and McSweeney’s. Her commitment to comedy extends to her role on the board of the San Francisco Sketchfest, a celebrated alternative comedy festival now in its 20th year. Audiences can also regularly see her in the long-running, award-winning Broadway hit Celebrity Autobiography. For a deeper dive into her life and experiences, her memoir, May You Live In Interesting Times,(available on Audible).

Film Jury: Emmy-Winning Actor Jeff Kober, 2nd Year!

Emmy Award-winning actor Jeff Kober, current star in “The Pitt,”  has appeared in over 55 feature films and numerous television productions. His recent film “Grassland” closed the 2024 LALIFF, while “Self-Reliance,” directed by and co-starring Jake Johnson, premiered at SXSW. His impressive filmography includes “Break,” the soon-to-be-released “Cash for Gold,” Leave No Trace, Sully directed by Clint Eastwood, “Beauty Mark,” and “Lie Exposed,” which he wrote and photographed.
With more than 90 television credits, Kober has made his mark on acclaimed series including Shameless, “New Girl,” “Big Sky,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Walking Dead,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Truth Be Told,” “Nothing Sacred,” “CSI,” “Dr. Vegas,” “NYPD Blue,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Poltergeist: The Legacy,” and General Hospital. He held regular roles on China Beach, “Big Dogs,” and “Kindred: The Embraced.”
Beyond acting, Kober teaches Vedic Meditation and authored “Embracing Bliss: 108 Daily Meditations,” accompanied by a podcast. He recently launched “Day Shift” with Rainn Wilson on the SoulBoom YouTube channel. In his spare time, he creates large format tintype and ambrotype wet plate collodion photographs.
Website: jeff-kober.com

PAST YEARS' JUDGES INCLUDED:

(Some Remote, Some In Person)

I

Rising Star Editor, Kristina Motwani

Kristina Motwani is an award-winning film editor, producer, writer, and story consultant working in San Francisco. With Homeroom (2021), 1-800-ON-HER-OWN (2024), Home is a Hotel (2023), Ayenda (2023), Fruits of Labor (2021), First Vote (2020), Midnight Traveler (2019) After Tiller (2013) and more, Motwani’s verité documentary style strives to give intimate portraits of real people. These films were honored with Peabody, Emmy and festival awards. Other personal recognitions include the 2021 Sundance Jonathan Oppenheim Edit Award, 2021 IFF Boston Karen Schmeer Excellence in Documentary Editing, 2024 Sundance Adobe Mentorship Award winner for nonfiction, 2023 Karen Schmeer Fellowship mentor, 2019 DOCNYC 40 under 40 honoree, 2018 SFFilm FilmHouse Resident and a 2017 BAVC National MediaMaker Fellow. Her work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca, SXSW, SFFilm festival and has been seen on PBS, Netflix, Hulu and the World Channel.

UCLA Alum Kathia Sanchez-Aldana

Raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Kathia Sanchez-Aldana is a seasoned television and film professional with a B.A. in Film and TV Production from UCLA. After cutting her teeth as a basecamp production assistant on several feature films, she joined Modern Family in Season 6 as an assistant production coordinator, rising to associate producer by the series finale in Season 11. Since then, she has continued to build her producing career with credits including Dahmer: Monster, Not Dead Yet, Nobody Wants This, and Criminal Minds: Evolution.

Film Jury: Emerging Cinematic Luminary Ellie Foumbi, 2nd Year

Ellie Foumbi is an award-winning Cameroonian American filmmaker whose debut film, Our Father, the Devil, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. It went on to screen at over 50 international film festivals where it won several prizes, including the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival. It received universal critical acclaim, including Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Award Nominations. She’s an alumna of Berlinale Talents and a BAFTA Breakthrough USA Fellow. Ellie was also named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine.

Eclectic Man of Culture and the Arts, Daedalus Howell, Joins the Film Jury

To appreciate the multi-hyphenate talents of Daedalus Howell, combine the moxie of an indie filmmaker, the grit of a journalist, the insouciance of a novelist, and the trickster-heroism of a conceptual artist — add ice and shake. The result — cold, wet, and bitter — belies Howell’s biting wit, easy charm, and stridently independent spirit as a writer, filmmaker, performer, and media personality. Inescapably Gen X, Howell’s work is a postmodern tapestry of interconnected narratives realized in feature films like Pill Head and the upcoming Werewolf Serenade and books like Quantum Deadline and I Heart Sonoma. Howell’s byline has appeared in local and national outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Men’s Health, the Sonoma Index-Tribune, and dozens of other regional publications. He is more recently associated with The North Bay Bohemian and Pacific Sun, for which he has been editor since 2019. Howell blogs humorously and candidly about the vicissitudes of working in the creative industrial complex and life as a cyclothymic wineaux. He has a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. For the past decade, Howell has lived in Petaluma, California, the wine country locale often the backdrop for his work.

Film Jury: Oscar-nominated Writer/Director Billy Ray

Billy Ray wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Captain Phillips, for which he won the WGA award. He also wrote, directed, and executive-produced Showtime’s “The Comey Rule,” which had the biggest debut of any limited series in that network’s history. Ray’s films as writer, co-writer, or writer-director include “The Hunger Games,” “Richard Jewell,” “Shattered Glass,” and “Breach.” He serves on the boards of Common Defense and Big Sunday, and is currently hosting the Podcast “StrikeTalk” for Deadline.Com. He believes in democracy, justice, and the Dodgers.

KNOWN FOR

Film Jury: Local Independent Filmmaker and award-winning screenwriter John Harden

John Harden is an award-winning screenwriter and director of film and video. His short film La vie d’un chien (The Life of a Dog) screened at top-tier festivals around the world, including exhibition at NY MOMA as part of the New Directors/New Films series. His screenplay The Sensitivity Program (co-authored with Skot Christopherson) won Best Feature Screenplay (Science Fiction Category) in the Austin Film Festival competition. In 2020 John was chosen as one of “25 Screenwriters to Watch” by the International Screenwriters Association. As part of their Development Slate, he’s currently pitching a series concept to producers, while continuing to helm independent projects. His work in film is complemented by a background in visual arts and communications: graphic design, illustration, journalism, and marketing. A life-long resident of the S.F. Bay Area, John is married and currently resides in Santa Rosa. Learn more and see John’s work at johnfilms.com.