Barbara Chirinos grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Vancouver in the early 2000s. She has had a varied and successful career in the arts including positions as the Executive Director of the Granville Island Cultural Society, Special Events Producer and Facility Manager for the VIFF and Vancity Theatre, and Managing Director of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Working closely with Artistic Director Margo Kane, Barbara served as the Feature Film & Lead Curator of the NFB Indigenous Short Film Program for the Drum is Calling Festival. Barbara also co-created (with Mexican artist Ari De La Mora) the International Day of the Dead Exhibit and Tour on Granville Island. She produced the Afro Hair Savoir Faire (celebrating Black hair in all its glory) and Feast on Film. Barbara is the founder and co-curator of the Black History Month film series, approaching its 8th year at the VIFF Vancity Theatre, and teaches Festival Management at Capilano University.

Antonella Sudasassi (San José, Costa Rica, 1986) studied Media Management and Audiovisual Production, and currently works as a writer and director in Costa Rica. In 2017, she took part in the Berlinale Talents program in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Awakening of the Ants (El despertar de las hormigas) is her first feature-length film and had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in 2019. Recently, The Awakening of the Ants won the prize for Best Iberoamerican Film at the Seattle International Film Festival and Best Costa Rican Film at the Costa Rica International Film Festival. 

Carlos Colín (Mexico, 1980) has been living in Vancouver since 2011. He has two Masters of Fine Arts: from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and from UBC, and is a PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at UBC. Carlos was the recipient of the City of Vancouver’s Emerging Visual Artist Award (2016) and Artist Studio Award (2017); and a Canada Council for the Arts grant to mid-career artists (2018). Carlos has been exhibiting his work internationally with recent exhibitions in Mexico, the US and Canada. He currently has an exhibition at the Reach Gallery in Abbotsford, BC exploring the conditions and cultural heritages of Mexican migrant workers.