by CalArts Community Arts Partnership
Digital Photography
Martha Estrella is a Mexican American emerging Los Angeles-based visual artist pursuing her Master of Fine arts in photo & media at California Institute of the Arts. Estrella is a visual artist who uses film photographs, zines and writing to document her hometowns in Texas and Guanajuato, Mexico to explore themes of memory, belonging, identity, family and connection.
Animation
Benni Quintero (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, animator, and writer from Watts, Los Angeles. They play roulette with mediums such as comics, animation, poetry, fiber arts, and puppetry. Their experimental animation, known for interweaving image with semi-autobiographic prose, has been screened internationally.
Yingdan Lai is an animation director and teaching artist based in LA. She loves observing the small, everyday moments that most people overlook, and turning them into hand-drawn and crafted animation worlds. She studied animation at CalArts and has shown her films at festivals around the world. She believes animation belongs to everyone and is always there for you to express yourself.
Film
Alexander (Sasha) Barancheyev is a 21 year old filmmaker, producer, and cinematographer based in Los Angeles, USA and Riga, Latvia. By merging narrative and experimental film techniques, poetic imagery and sound, he explores the themes of human condition, the absurd in the everyday, and family. Alexander is an upcoming senior at the California Institute of the Arts in the Film/Video program.
Jorge Ravelo is a filmmaker, performance artist, Arts Educator and Community Film Organizer based between Los Angeles, CA and Miami, FL. He is also a board member for Los Angeles Filmforum, based at 2220 Arts & Archives. His art practice is centered around political and filial tensions within the Caribbean diaspora of Miami, whether it’d be confronted through intimate experimental documentary, community screenings or performance. He has had work showcased at Coaxial, The PAMM, LACA, Thymele Arts, and Automata Gallery, and has curated for Los Angeles Filmforum, RedCat, Self Help Graphics, The Echo Park film Center and his backyard. He holds an undergraduate degree from CalArts, and is currently teaching in various non-profit art centers around Los Angeles.
Music Production
Dylan Marx is a composer, musician, producer, and educator. He scores films, dance pieces, and plays in several bands in the LA area. More info, and his music, can be found here https://dylanmarx.com.
Amir is a composer and sound designer from Kyrgyzstan who makes music for animated films and video games. His style focuses on abstract instrumentals inspired by 90's era RPGs and cartoons. When he's not working with animators, he can be found listening to the same Björk song on loop for hours on end.