Te Shima Brennen (they/them) is a Black, queer, trans filmmaker living in Brooklyn. They produce work on race, gender, and sexuality. As an emerging documentary filmmaker, they aim to tell nuanced stories about BIPOC, queer and trans people as they navigate institutions and systems not built to support them. Te Shima served as co-director, co-producer and co-editor of Mother Wit. They became a 2022-23 recipient of a Magic Grant from the Brown Institute for Media Innovation for their pilot project titled, "TRANSforming Journalism." They are also a 2022 Reuters Institute Fellow at the University of Oxford. Most recently, a film they co-directed, titled Hold On To Me, premiered at New York City’s biggest queer film festival, NewFest, in October. They were also selected to pitch Mother Wit at Double Exposure Film Festival’s pitching forum in October. Their work has been featured in numerous festivals both domestically and abroad.

Email: tab2164@cumc.columbia.edu

Rajvi Desai is a non-binary South Asian filmmaker based in New York City. Her work focuses on issues at the intersection of race and gender, especially the experiences of Black and Brown queer people in society, in the criminal justice system and in the institution of commercial sports. She is the recipient of a seed grant from Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation, with which she is currently developing a short documentary centering trans journalists of color. A short documentary she edited and co-directed, Hold On To Me, premiered at NewFest in October 2022. She was also selected to pitch Mother Wit at Double Exposure Film Festival’s pitching forum in October. For Mother Wit, she serves as co-director, co-producer, co-cinematographer and co-editor, along with her teammate Te Shima Brennan. Rajvi’s work has been featured in both local and international publications, such as amNY.com, Surface Magazine, The Swaddle and Eastern-Standard Times.

Email: rd2927@columbia.edu