Olivia Wilde, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Lucy Liu Set for Chanel and Tribeca’s Through Her Lens Jury
The 2024 edition of Tribeca and Chanel’s Through Her Lens collaboration is falling into focus.
The three-day workshop — returning for a ninth year in New York from Sept. 17 to 19 — will feature a roster of boldfaced name participants and rising creatives. Chanel announced the team on Wednesday, a list that includes jury members Joanna Calo, Beanie Feldstein, Lucy Liu, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Olivia Wilde, mentors Pamela Adlon, Mara Brock Akil, Janicza Bravo and Molly Gordon, and conversation leaders Ruth E. Carter, Patty Jenkins and Laura Karpman. The advisory committee also features Jenkins, Jane Fonda, Karpman, Past Lives breakout Greta Lee, filmmaker A.V. Rockwell and Kerry Washington.
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Founded in 2015 by Tribeca and Chanel, Through Her Lens is an artist development program that brings together filmmaker finalists, jurors and industry insiders for a series of events, workshops, chats and peer-to-peer sessions. The workshops specifically deliver one-on-one mentorship and conversations focused on development, music composition, costume design, producing and directing. Selected participants huddle with their mentors to craft their projects and pitches, and at the end of it all, each pair pitches their project to a jury. One winning team will receive full financing to produce a short film with support from Tribeca Studios. The four other projects are awarded grant funds for development.
Said Tribeca Enterprises CEO Jane Rosenthal: “Together with Chanel, we are reshaping the landscape of Hollywood, and this year’s class of emerging talent is no exception. I can’t wait to see the ways in which they will leave their mark–we need their young, diverse voices and creativity now more than ever.”
Below is a list of the competing filmmakers with intel on their selected projects.
Chloe Sarbib’s Brace Yourself: The American and French-Algerian filmmaker’s project follows 15-year-old Nina Boukris who wants to end her life, though not until she gets her braces off. Sarbib’s short films have played Aspen Shortsfest, Palm Springs International ShortFest and Seattle International Film Festival. Most recently, the Yale and Columbia grad directed an episode of The CW’s In the Dark. Based in Brooklyn, Sarbib teaches at Montclair State University. Rtusha Kulkarni is producing the project. She is an Indian American screenwriter, director and producer who has previously worked at Archer Gray, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Netflix and Bleecker Street Media. She is the co-founder of TL;DR Film, an independent production company.
Sophia Youssef’s Black Shore: The Greek-Lebanese filmmaker’s project follows Evangelina, who is forced to look after an ailing mother in Santorini, Greece only to discover that her mother’s lifelong obsession with mythological monsters and an ancient family curse might not be pure fantasy. Youssef’s latest film, Leaving Lebanon, was produced via the Disney/AFI Underrepresented Storytellers Initiative. Her previous short, To the Dust, premiered at AFI Fest and was AFI’s official selection for the Yugo BAFTA Student Award. She recently graduated from the American Film Institute with an MFA in Directing. Her producer is Céline Bava-Helms who has previously produced music videos and short films including Youssef’s Leaving Lebanon. In 2023, she oversaw physical productions for the Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute. She holds a BA in Film Studies from Université Paris Diderot and an MFA from the American Film Institute.
Alyssa Loh’s Copy, Save: The filmmaker’s project centers on two Asian American teen sisters who discover each other’s secret internet cash schemes, a reveal that forces them to confront the murky ethics of their digital lives. Her short film, Let, premiered at SXSW in 2024, and went on to a slew of awards. She holds an MBA/MFA from NYU and a BA from Princeton, where she won the Ward Mathis Prize for best short story and was selected by Toni Morrison for her Atelier program. Her producer, Charlie Traisman, is co-founder of Madhouse Films. They recently completed post on short thrillers Long Pork, starring Lena Headey, and Blood Boys, featuring Booboo Stewart and Jamie Clayton. Traisman holds an MFA from American Conservatory Theater and a BA from Vassar College.
Jahmil Eady’s Haint: When the gentrifiers moving into her Gullah Geechee community suddenly start dying of supernatural causes, a handywoman named Annabelle must decide whether to use her ancestral knowledge to save them or to embrace schadenfreude. Eady, a writer-director from Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City, earned her BA in Media Studies from Pomona College and an MFA in Directing from UCLA. She served as an associate producer on documentary projects for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Viceland and Discovery Networks. Her short films have screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide. Her producer, Selena Leoni, had a short, Bienvenidos a Los Angeles, that was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Awards. Her feature, Bryant Griffin’s Young King, premiered at the American Black Film Festival in June.
Lara Everly’s Selah: The project centers on a determined teen named Selah who takes on a solo road trip from Texas to California to deliver a designer puppy for cash only to see her responsibilities and emotions get tested to the limit. Everly is an award-winning DGA director who helmed an episode of NBC’s American Auto, the Geena Davis pilot I Can by Friday and a dark comedy short Heritage Day starring Rachel Bloom. She won a Webby Award for Always & Forever. Her producer, Elease Lui Stemp, has a list of credits that includes HBO Max’s The Last Movie Stars, Discovery+’s The Men Who Sold the World Cup, PBS’ Asian Americans and Netflix’s Fantastic Fungi.
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