THE FILM JURY
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Our 2025 Film Jury Panel is developing!
Renowned Cultural Trailblazers
Kathleen Brennan & Tom Waits join the film jury for the 4th 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.
Television Storytelling Powerhouse Cindy Caponera Takes a Seat on Our Festival’s Jury
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
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).
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Film Jury: Emmy-Winning Actor Jeff Kober
Emmy Award-winning actor Jeff Kober 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
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.”
Rising Star Editor, Kristina Motwani, Joins Our Esteemed Film Jury for 2nd Year!
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.