Big Shoulders International Student Film Festival
Jurors
Dr. Michelle Yates
Dr. Michelle Yates is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences at Columbia College Chicago. Dr. Yates received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from University of California at Davis and a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Pennsylvania State University. At Columbia College Chicago, Dr. Yates teaches courses including Urban Images in Media and Film; Cinema and Environment; and Feminism and Film. Dr. Yates is also the co-founder and co-director of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival.
Sam Flancher
sflancher@chicagofilmfestival.com
A native of Minnesota and a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, Sam Flancher is a film programmer, educator, and filmmaker. He has studied and worked in Chicago for the last decade, and currently works as the Short Film Programmer at the Chicago International Film Festival. He has served on film juries both nationally and internationally.
Tania Hernández Velasco
Filmmaker and film programmer living in Mexico City. Her work explores the intersections of body, identity and territory through a ludic and sensory approach.
Titixe, her first feature documentary in which she holds directing, editing, producing and cinematography credits, has been selected in more than forty international film festivals and collected several awards.
In 2019, she was selected as a Flaherty Seminar - Professional Development Fellow and received the Charles C. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award (Full Frame Documentary Film Festival). Previously, she was sponsored as a director under the Borderline Program (Fest Associaçao Cultural, Espinho, Portugal, 2012) and in the Interaction Documentary Program (Pozega, Serbia, 2013). She holds a BA in Film (Centro de Diseño, Cine y TV, Mexico City), as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Film Editing and a Masters in Creative Documentary (both from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona).
Pulkit Datta
Pulkit Datta is a film producer, director, programmer, and community organizer. He has worked on the creative development and production of a range of international projects, including scripted films, documentaries, commercials, short films, music videos, and impact and multimedia campaigns. Pulkit is active in the filmmaking community, setting up incubator initiatives for South Asian filmmakers, and as a member of Asian American Doc Network, Center for Asian American Media, and as an alum of IFP and the Impact Partners Producing Fellowship. He serves as a consultant and programmer for several film festivals and events working towards greater South Asian inclusion in the mainstream. He is also the Artistic Director of the Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, as well as on the programming team of Asian CineVision. pulkitdatta.com
Reveca Torres
Reveca Torres was paralyzed in a car accident as a teenager. After completing degrees in Fashion Design and Theatre Arts, Reveca worked as a costume designer and simultaneously with organizations doing disability work in health, advocacy, recreation, and peer support. She started a nonprofit called BACKBONES after realizing that years of interaction and friendship with others living with spinal injuries (SCI) made a significant impact in her own life. Reveca wanted to ensure that others, especially those newly injured, had access to resources, information, and the same type of support she has had.
She is co-director of ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago and has curated touring photography and art exhibitions that showcase work of people with disabilities and bring awareness to disability rights. Reveca received Creative Access Fellowships at Vermont Studio Center (2014) and Santa Fe Art Institute (2017). She was selected as a fellow for Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs program (2017) and Hulu+Kartemquin Accelerator Program (2020). She received a 3Arts Residency Fellowship at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2018 and is one of 2020 3Arts Awardees. In 2020 she was awarded the Craig Neilsen Visionary Award for her art and advocacy work. Reveca uses painting, illustration, photography, film, movement, and other media as a form of expression and a tool for advocacy and social justice.
