2019 Jury

PRESENTING THE 2019 SLAMDANCE JURY
The 2019 Slamdance Jury brings together alumni from across our 25 years, along with filmmakers and industry leaders whose work embodies the spirit of experimentation and adherence to independence that we support at Slamdance. Meet the Jury members of the 25th Slamdance Film Festival.


Narrative Features
Frédéric Forestier
Frédéric was born in Paris, February 8th, 1969. He made his first film at age 10 and decided to work in cinema. After he graduated with a baccalauréat in micro technics and optics, he studied at ESCA in Paris for 2 years, founded his production company, and self-produced his first short films. One of them, Paranoia hit Slamdance, got him an agent in Los Angeles, and his first feature film starring Dolph Lundgren and Roy Scheider in 1996 at age 27.




Shih-Ching Tsou
Shih-Ching is a New York City-based filmmaker. She co-wrote, co-directed and co-produced Take Out with Sean Baker, which debuted at Slamdance in 2004 and was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards. Following Take Out, Tsou continued to collaborate with Baker, executive producing Starlet, serving as producer, costume designer and art department on Tangerine, and producing The Florida Project, which premiered at the Directors' Fortnight of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Tsou is currently working on her second feature, Left Handed Girl, a family drama set in a night market in Taipei, Taiwan.

Jeremiah Zagar
Jeremiah grew up in South Philly. At the age of 19, he premiered his documentary short Delhi House at Slamdance 2002. In 2008 he completed his first feature documentary, In A Dream, which screened theatrically across the US and in film festivals around the world. It was broadcast on HBO, shortlisted for an Academy Award and received two Emmy nominations, including “Best Documentary.” His next documentary Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart premiered in competition at Sundance and aired on HBO in 2014. His latest film, the feature-length narrative We The Animals, premiered at Sundance in 2018 and took home the NEXT Innovator Award.





Documentary Features and Shorts
Dana Nachman
Dana is an award-winning filmmaker of both fiction and documentary films. Nachman’s 2018 feature doc Pick of the Litter was sold within 48 hours of its Slamdance premiere and is being released by IFC Films. Nachman’s 2015 film Batkid Begins was bought and distributed by Warner Bros./New Line Cinema. She has won three regional Emmys, dozens of festival Jury and Audience Awards, and many more. Nachman’s films have also been shown on television networks like MSNBC, OWN and PBS. Dana is currently on the festival circuit with three films and is working on a trilogy of romantic comedies.


Mark Moskowitz
Mark Moskowitz's first documentary feature, Stone Reader, won a Slamdance Special Grand Jury Award in 2002. It went on to a U.S. theatrical release, picked by many critics as one the year's 10 Best films. His latest documentary, a limited series called It Was the Music, will premiere in 2019.






Stefan Avalos
Stefan Avalos is filmmaker who enjoys jumping between genres and job descriptions. His psychological thriller, The Last Broadcast (co-directed with Lance Weiler), made history as the first feature to be released digitally to theaters. Stefan is a Slamdance alum; his 2017 documentary, Strad Style, won two Sparkys - the Audience Award and the Grand Prize for Best Feature Documentary.








Experimental and Animation Shorts
Kelly Gallagher
Kelly Gallagher is an experimental animator, filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Film at Syracuse University. Her award winning films have screened at The National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Ann Arbor Film Festival, LA Film Forum, and Anthology Film Archives. Upcoming screenings of her commissioned animations include: Sundance, MoMA, and PBS.





Skizz Cyzyk
Skizz Cyzyk has held positions at MicroCineFest, Maryland Film Festival, Slamdance, and Atlanta Film Festival, as well as serving on juries and advisory boards at many other festivals. His films include Icepick To The Moon, Hit & Stay, Freaks In Love, plus many shorts and music videos (Beach House, Young Fresh Fellows). He serves on the Board of Directors for Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and performs music with The Stents, Go Pills, The Jennifers, Garage Sale, Half Japanese and Mink Stole & Her Wonderful Band.



Bryan Wendorf
Bryan Wendorf co-founded the Chicago Underground Film Festival while working in a video rental store in 1994 and remains its Programmer and Artistic Director. He has served on the board of directors of IFP Chicago and has curated film programs at numerous venues including Conversations At The Edge at the Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago) and the Revelation Film Festival (Perth). He's served on juries at Chicago International Movies and Music, Onion City and Lake County Film Festivals among others, and has written articles for a variety of publications including New City Chicago and Indiewire.





Narrative Shorts

Andrew Hevia
A filmmaker from Miami, Andrew Hevia's producing credits include the Oscar winning film Moonlight, and projects by Phil Lord, Amy Seimetz and Hannah Fidell. He co-founded Miami's Borscht Corp. and currently works as a Producer and Vice President at Fabula US, the production company started by director Pablo Larraín.






Jeremy Yaches
Jeremy is the executive producer and co-founder of Public Record, a production company that specializes in film, TV, branded content, and commercials. His most recent film, We The Animals, won the NEXT Innovator award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and is nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards. His doc work includes In a Dream, which screened all over the world and was broadcast on HBO, as well as the Netflix original Voyeur, which premiered at the 2017 New York Film Festival.



Gus Krieger
Gus Krieger is a Los Angeles-based writer/director/producer of stage and screen. His first produced feature screenplay The Killing Room starred Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton, Academy Award nominee Chloe Sevigny, and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Recently, Krieger produced Fender Bender for Mark Pavia and the Chiller Network, and Kevin Shulman’s I Am Fear for Roxwell Films. As writer-director-producer, Mr. Krieger’s feature films include the philosophical thriller The Binding, and the hip-hop drama My Name Is Myeisha (Slamdance 2018 Winner - Audience Award, Acting Award for Rhaechyl Walker).