PANEL #2: WE’RE STILL STANDING: A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF QUEER INFLUENCES IN FILM & POP CULTURE

Fawzia (she/they) is a queer, South Asian, Muslim filmmaker and a White House Champion of Change in Asian American Storytelling. Mirza co-wrote & starred in the feature SIGNATURE MOVE which world premiered at SXSW, won 15 awards (including the US Grand Jury Prize Outfest) and starred Indian film legend Shabana Azmi. Her feature script HEIRLOOM was named to the 2022 Muslim List, published by The Black List. She’s written and directed for TV, executive produced documentaries and her award-winning short films have screened all over the world. Her feature directorial debut THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS world premiered at TIFF and had its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It has been nominated for 5 Canadian Academy Awards. Fawzia was nominated for the Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award and was named a 2023 Reel World Trailblazer.

Andria is a CMPA Award-Nominated producer and the co-founder of Baby Daal Productions, which she runs with her wife, filmmaker Fawzia Mirza. She recently produced THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS, their Pakistan-Canada co-production that has screened at TIFF, SXSW and the BFI. For the last 3 years, Andria has led ReFrame, Hollywood’s gender equity coalition founded by Sundance Institute and WIF, and is currently leading WIF’s international work in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She was previously the Executive Director of the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival and is currently on the advisory board of Hire Survivors Hollywood and Anita Hill’s Hollywood Commission, and consulting for GLAAD’s entertainment team.

Jess Dunn (she/they) is a first-generation American filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Descending from both Italian and Irish immigrants, place is fundamental in her work and process. Dunn was featured in Shoot Magazine’s New Director’s Showcase, sponsored by the Director’s Guild for her work on Gray Ground, a webseries acquired by Seeka TV. In 2024 she completed her first Super Bowl ad for a collaboration between Don Julio and the fashion brand, Siegelman Stable. Dunn’s style punctuates the connection between camera and story, evident in her signature one shots, spanning as long as 12 minutes in the Go TV series, @datingZoe. As an advocate for deconstructing queer categories in film and television, Dunn has moderated for and participated on panels about the subjects for Go Mag and New Orleans International Film Festival.

Originally from Kansas, Sav Rodgers is a filmmaker and screenwriter whose feature directorial debut CHASING CHASING AMY (Tribeca ‘23) explores the complicated legacy of Chasing Amy (1997) and its profound impression on his life. The TED Talk he gave in 2018 kickstarted this filmmaking journey, and spurred the writing of scripts that center on highly specific, surprising stories about queer people. His screenplays have been recognized by GLAAD, Outfest, ScreenCraft, among others. Named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Media List in 2024, Sav is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Transgender Film Center, a nonprofit aiming to help trans creators bring finished films to audiences around the world. Sav is a proud University of Kansas graduate and still sports KU baseball caps wherever he goes.