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2026 Jury

  • A man wearing a beanie and dark coat at night, with city lights in the background.

    J. Xavier Velasco

    Award-Winning Director of Zerch, Above & Below The Waves at Ariel Awards, Biarritz, Pantalla de Cristal, Valle de Guadalupe Film Festivals, Vimeo Staff Picks, Founder of Protofilms LLC

  • Portrait of a young woman with dark hair wearing earrings and a necklace, dressed in a black off-shoulder top, against a plain background.

    Adriana Trujillo

    Director of Cine Tonalá Tijuana, Cinema Parallels, Programmer of Frontera Filmmakers at San Diego Latino Film Festival, Juror for FOPROCINE, Plataforma DOCSMX, Jóvenes Creadores, Los Angeles Film Festival, DocuLab Guadalajara, Founder of BorDocs

  • Adrian Saravia

    Co-Founder of Animal Politico, Award-Winning Creative Director of ViX at Apple TV, Founder of Timelabs

  • Rodrigo Reyes BAFTA

    Award-Winning Director of Sansón y yo, 499, Lupe Under the Sun, Purgatorio at Sundance, Tribeca, Brooklyn, San Francisco, San Diego Latino, Cinema Tropical, Valle de Guadalupe Film Festivals, Creative Capital Award, Fundación Guggenheim, Rainin Artist Fellowship, United States Artists, SF Indie Vanguard, acquired by The Criterion Collection, British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), Video Consortium, Cine Roxie Member, Masterclasses at Stanford, University of California, Berkeley, Los Ángeles, Santa Cruz, Princeton, New School, DOCSMX

  • A man with a beard and a baseball cap standing outdoors at dusk, with blurred city lights in the background.

    Alejandro Mejia AMC

    Award-Winning Director of Photography for In the Summers, 499, The Knife, Sons of Monarch at Tribeca, Sundance, Camerimage Film Festivals, Panavision Award, Critics’ Choice Nominee, Mexican Society of Cinematographers (AMC)

  • Petra Korner ICG, BAFTA

    Award-Winning Director of Photography at Sundance, Sunscreen, Brooklyn Film Festivals, Women in Film Crystal Award, Kodak Vision, British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) Voting Member, Camerimage Juror, International Cinematographers Guild (ICG), Austrian Society of Cinematographers (AAC)

  • A black and white photo of a man wearing a cap and sunglasses, with a beard and mustache, looking slightly to the side.

    Alessio Giorgetti

    Award-Winning Filmmaker at Honolulu Film Festival, Programming Director of Malastrana Film Series Giallo Fever! Anthology Film Archives NYC

  • A man with dark hair, a beard, and wearing a black sweater looks to the side against a plain white background.

    Sebastián Díaz

    Emmy-Award PBS Editor of Turning Point, Cypress Hill, Op-Docs, Award-Winning Director A Thousand Pines, Tonita’s, Tierra brillante at San Diego Latino Film Festival, Co-Founder of Union Docs NYC

  • Profile of a man wearing a black baseball cap and a red T-shirt, looking to the side.

    Armando Croda

    Award-Winning Director-Editor of Ya me voy, Loudmouth, Jay Myself, Straighten Up & Fly Right at Guadalajara, Slamdance, Streamed on Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Showtime, Founder of MU Media

  • Antonio Coello

    Award-Winning Director of Sietefilos, Hant Quij Cöipaxi Hac at Ariel Awards, Red Nation, Valle de Guadalupe Film Festivals

  • Pete Chatmon DGA

    Director of Showtime's Yellowjackets, Premium, HBO's The Flight Attendant, Insecure,‍ Silicon Valley, Love Life, BlackCard, Starz' Power: Origins, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Blindspotting, Netflix's You, Dead Boy Detectives, Hulu's Reasonable Doubt, Interior Chinatown, Paramount Plus' Fatal Attraction, CBS's Ghosts, NCIS: Origins, ABC's High Potential, Grey's Anatomy, Black ish, FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Apple TV+ Mythic Quest, NAACP Image Awards Nominated, Directors Guild of America (DGA)

  • Nikola Chapelle

    Audio Engineer of Netflix’s The Great Hack, The Edge of Democracy, Kumeyaay Land, Eugene Jarecki’s The King, Once Upon a Time in Uganda at SXSW, Sundance, Tribeca, Red Nation, Shorts México, WilliFest Film Festivals, Co-Founder of Paris-based Audio Company Kraft

Members of the Jury

  • A woman with long black hair and bangs, wearing an orange top, standing in front of a bookshelf filled with various books.

    Eva Aridjis

    Award-Winning Director of Chuy el hombre lobo, The Favor, La Santa Muerte, Ninos de la calle at Ariel Awards, Trieste, Valle de Guadalupe, Morelia Film Festivals, Screenwriter of Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico

  • Black and white close-up photo of a young woman with shoulder-length hair, half her face lit and the other half in shadow, wearing a dark sweater.

    Julia Gorbach

    Emmy Award-Winner Creative Producer for {The And}, The Dig, Founding Member of The Skin Deep, Founder of Wild Minds

  • A woman wearing a brown headscarf and yellow head covering sitting outdoors with other women in the background.

    Idil Ibrahim

    Award-Winning Director of Tribeca Studios’ In Her Element, Hurricane, Sega at BlackStar, Zanzibar, Sundance, Cinéma du Réel, Rotterdam, Toronto Festival, acquired by Canal+

  • Black and white portrait of a man with long hair, wearing round glasses and a hat, looking at the camera.

    Pepe Mogt

    Grammy-Award Artist, Fussible, Founder of Nortec Collective

  • A smiling man with dark hair tied back, wearing a black jacket, taking a selfie outdoors during sunset with vibrant orange and pink clouds in the background.

    Karl Pettersen

    Sustainability Leader, Managing Director at Score Group, Award-Winning Creative Producer & Music Composer for Pégame & La Pura Vida at East Village New York, Dubai, Berlin Motion Pictures, Swedish Academy of Motion Pictures, London Movie Awards & WilliFest Film Festivals, Top 100 Innovators & Entrepreneurs 2024, Ex-Chief Sustainability Officer at Société Générale NY, Founder of Pettersen Consulting

  • A shirtless man with long dark hair, a beard with gray, wearing a black cap, outdoors with blurred trees in the background.

    Antonio Scarlata DGA

    Director of Showtime’s 7 Deadly Sins, HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Funny or Die’s Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie, Mansome: The Series, Directors Guild of America (DGA), Founder of Skar Studios LLC

The Team

  • Smiling man with long hair and beard outdoors, mountain landscape background.

    Dylan Riis Verrechia

    Festival Director, Award-Winning Auteur-Director (with ankylosing spondylitis disability) of Kumeyaay Land, La Pura Vida, Tierra Madre, Tijuana Makes Me Happy & Kids of the Majestic at Morelia, Slamdance, Red Nation, Chicago LGTBQ+, Executive Producer of Verrechia Films LLC (Arakimentari, Padre Nuestro), videos for The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West, Beck, Wu-Tang Clan, Nortec, winner at Sundance, SXSW, Chicago, BFF, streamed on HBO, Canal+, Netflix, Cineclick, Amazon, iTunes, MUBI)

  • Two people standing on a red carpet in front of a red backdrop with the words 'RNCI Red Nation Awards' and a logo, holding an award, smiling at the camera.

    Angel Díaz Ojeda

    Community Screenings Organizer, Shorts México, WilliFest & Red Nation Film Festival Award-Winner Producer of Kumeyaay Land, Director of Indigenous Communities in the Department of Social Inclusion & Gender Equality, Kumeyaay Leader & Bule Singer, Founder of Auka®

  • Arturo Arreola Cortez

    Founder of Café ConCiente, Founder of Finestra, Founder of Brujas Kombucha, Oceanography Consultant, Fermentist, Barista Master

  • Yaquelin Díaz Ojeda

    Kurrak Award Maker, Award-Winner Kumeyaay Artist

  • Gilberto Chi Montes

    Master Chef, Dubaï Film Festival & Swedish Academy Motion Pictures Award-Winner Actor of Pégame, Metal Worker Craftsman Master of San José de la Zorra, Rancher

  • Luna Ixel Zamudio

    MC, Director of Té de Ruda, Red Nation Film Festival Award-Winner Actress in Kumeyaay Land, Student at Escuela Nacional de Artes Cinematográficas at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Student at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California

  • Ruby Chi

    Production, Award-Winner Actress in Pégame

  • Leidy Robles

    Production, Caterer in Award-Winning Feature Film Pégame

  • Joshua Yair Ayala

    Tech, Technician in Computer Equipment Repair at Compra Perfecta, P.T.B. in Computer Science, Technician in Audio and Projection

Honorary Members

  • Aurelia Ojeda Mélendrez

    Kumeyaay Community Leader, Shorts México, WilliFest & Red Nation Film Festival Award-Winner Producer of Kumeyaay Land, Famed Artist & Traditional Kumeyaay Basket Weaver, Award-Winner Premio Nacional de Arte Popular, Concurso Nacional de Fibras Vegetales de Campeche, Concurso Nacional Grandes Maestros del Patrimonio Artesanal de México (FONART), Teacher at CECUT’s Community Program

  • Martha Montes Castañeda

    Founder of Tipey Joa, National Advisor for the Kumiai Nation in Mexico, Board of Directors of the ACLU San Diego & Imperial County, Professor at Cuyamaca College

  • Tru Miller

    Founder of Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn