Born in Shanghai and raised in Indiana, J. Faye Yuan is a New York-based bilingual curator, producer, and editor. With support from Tribeca Creators Market, Doha Film Institute, and Women Make Movies, Faye made her first feature-length documentary about a maverick Chinese animal activist. In 2021, she co-directed and edited an award-winning archival film documenting the 100-year long history of jazz in China. In addition to filmmaking, she is a curator for the Queens Memory Project – a community archiving program supported by Queens Public Library and Queens College with the aim of raising awareness and a sense of ownership in the production of shared historic records.
Born to a revolutionary family from the Dominican Republic,
Mario Ducoudray, co-founder of New Circle Films, uses artistic means to address the ills of the world in lieu of guns. Following NYU Film School, he made his directorial debut on a one-act play, STRIPPING IN PUBLIC, which caused a stir at City Hall in a battle over freedom of expression. Since the early 2000s, his film development company has supported emerging filmmakers, most notably Rodrigo Bellott’s Locarno Critics Prize winner DEPENDENCIA SEXUAL, Bernard Attal’s award-winning short film, A BIKE RIDE, and Mijie Li’s Karlovy Vary-winning CONFUCIAN DREAM. A longtime resident of Brooklyn Heights, Mario served as President of his tenant association, where he secured a landmark victory for senior residents after a two-year battle for tenant rights.
