2023 Jurors

  • Odu Adamu is an award-winning Brooklyn-based creator who marries words and visual presentation to express his vision. His work is dedicated to sharing the authentic stories of Black LGBTQ/SGL people, and exploring the issues that impact our communities, and his films have been screened internationally. Odu is the 2022 recipient of Inside Out Film Festival’s Pitch Please award (cosponsored by Netflix), and a 2022 Queer Black Voices Fund grantee. Odu is also the founder and curator of Got to Be Reel, a nonprofit project that brings Black queer film into community spaces, and leads an initiative focused on developing a cross border Black queer filmmakers collective. He is currently working on projects in the US and Toronto, and a contributor to ArtsEverywhere and SoulMusic.com. Whether it’s a film project, stage production, or community activity, Odu only dedicates his head and heart to projects that reflect his passion and can be produced from a place of power! Keep up with Odu at oduadamu.com.

  • Shane Engstrom has volunteered with Out Film CT and the Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival for the past 23 years, with this year marking his 16 th year as Festival Director/Co-Director. The festival is Connecticut’s longest-running film festival, now celebrating its 36 th season. Out Film CT also partners with the classic Cinestudio theater to host a year-round monthly LGBTQ film series in Hartford, CT. He is a past recipient of the State of Connecticut Governor’s Award for “Distinguished Advocate” in recognition of his volunteer work at the festival. Shane has had the honor of serving as a jury member for other film festivals in the past, including the Wicked Queer Film Festival (Boston), ImageOut: Rochester LGBT Film Festival, and OutShine Film Festival: Fort Lauderdale.

  • Vandy Beth Glenn is a screenwriter, director, comedian, and civil rights pioneer. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Georgia. She lives in Decatur with her fiancée and five ungrateful cats. She can be found on Instagram @vandybethglenn and on Twitter @RedVelvetCakes

  • With lengthy stints at both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta magazine, Richard L. Eldredge has been covering Atlanta’s arts, entertainment, political, dining and charitable fundraising scenes since 1990. In 2015, he launched Eldredge ATL, a daily digital magazine dedicated to the city’s ever-evolving arts, entertainment, cuisine and cultural landscapes. Since 2011, he has worked as senior editor at VOX Teen Communications, supporting Atlanta’s next generation of journalists. In recognition of this work, Eldredge received the Atlanta Press Club Impact Award in 2015.

  • Andrea Hintermaier is an actress, director, writer and coach. She is also the artistic director of the acting school Young Talents. She works in theater, as well as in film. She played in Schoenefeld Boulevard, Katie Fforde and alongside Ryan Gosling in First Man. Some of her work has been shown at Film Festival Munich and Lincoln Center New York. She also created nonprofit projects like the World Soccer Theater and was in the jury of the Montana International Children’s Film Festival. Her short film Bruno has been screening at Out on Film Festival Atlanta and Sputnik Theater Berlin. It was also nominated for best world short at the Soho International Film Festival. Her own plays My own secret bubble. A prion, Experiment Tinder and Choice have been staged at several stages such as Tafelhalle Nuremberg. All of her work stands for the effort to achieve social justice and equality.

  • Allegra is originally from the Great Dismal Swamp on the coast of Southern Virginia; in search of lands less dreary, she moved to California and attended the California College of Art where she received her M.A. in Curatorial Practice. Her interests in art, cultural production, and public programming have been centered on building a platform for cultural activity that promotes deep community investment and active cultural participation. Film has played a critical role in achieving this mission. She has programmed the PROXY Outdoor Film Festivals and created the Black Light Cinema screening series in Bayview Hunters Point with goal of providing a platform for the voice of San Francisco’s last Black community.

    Allegra is currently the Director of Programming of Frameline San Francisco LGBTQ+ Film Festival, where she creates an annual program that celebrates queer cinema and aims to shape the world through storytelling and shared experiences.

  • Kathleen Mullen (she/her) for the past 20+ years has contributed to the planning and execution of film and art festivals nationally and internationally as curator, programmer, and arts manager. Since 2014, she has been involved with the Seattle Queer Film Festival produced by Three Dollar Bill Cinema as the Artistic Director leading the programming and operations of the 28-year-old festival. Along with SQFF, Kathleen works with the Whistler Film Festival, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, Skoden Indigenous Film Festival, and Simon Fraser University as an instructor. Kathleen continues to consult with filmmakers and organizations through her company Letter K Media. Festivals that Kathleen has programmed and worked for include: Toronto International Film Festival, Hot Docs, Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, Planet in Focus, Vancouver International Film Festival, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Kathleen has written and directed the films you wash my skin with sunshine, Sleep Lines, Button OUT!, and Breathtaking. As a dual citizen, she spends her time between Canada and the United States.

  • Eran Polishuk is an independent producer and promoter of films and media. He has worked with top festivals, distribution companies, and philanthropic organizations as well as film and education institutes. In January 2020, Eran launched Chapter Two Films — a distribution and media strategy company dedicated to representing independent filmmakers.

  • Trevite Willis is an independent producer and film festival founder committed to courageous storytelling and championing voices of color. Ms. Willis is a Co-Executive Producer on the Sundance 2023 film “To Live and Die and Live” and was an executive producer on the Sundance 2020 award-winning film “Forty Year Old Version.” She is currently in post production on the 2020 political documentary, “Black Voters Matter,” following civil rights activists LaTosha Brown and Cliff and April Albright as they rallied voters in the general and Georgia’s U.S. Senate run-off elections. Ms. Willis is a producer on a number of projects in production: “Listen to My Heartbeat” and “The Inquisitor: The Barbara Jordan Doc.”

    She has produced 7 feature films, including “Cargo” (2017 Amnesty International Human Rights Prize), “Blood Bound,” “Maya and Her Lover” and “Children of God,” had theatrical releases in the US, UK and The Netherlands, won 17 awards, and sold in 24 territories. In 2018, Ms. Willis launched the Southern Fried Film Festival in Huntsville, Alabama with fellow founder, Kelley Reischauer. She was a 2020 Blackhouse Multicultural Producers Lab fellow. She is an alumni of Trans Atlantic Partners (2017), a Sundance Catalyst fellow (2018), and a Women at Sundance Strategy Intensive fellow (2017, 2019). Ms Willis was a SXSW Tech Conference speaker (Mining Diversity: Developing a Community of Color, 2012). Ms. Willis is a member of New York Women In Film and Television, Women in Film, The Gotham and Women Independent Producers.