2021

Adnan Siddique

Filmmaking while Covid Roundtable

 Director Adnan Siddique frequently moved between small towns and big cities all his life before settling down in Columbus to attend OSU. After working as a production assistant on a handful of student projects, he made his directorial debut with Secouer in 2019, followed by his second short film, ACT, in 2020.  He is currently working on several projects, including his own short film, set to release in 2021. He functions as a director and collaborator for multiple small businesses in the Columbus area. 

Nella Citino

Independent Film Roundtable

Nella Citino is a media storyteller with over 20 years experience in the broadcast and film industry.  She has supervised several national, regional, and local broadcast programs and a variety of online projects.  She has produced, directed, and written documentaries, children’s programs, and news segments.    Her professional credits include the national children’s programs “Get Real!” and “Zoom” and nationally distributed documentaries covering a variety of social issues.   She has received seven regional Emmys, five Gabriel Awards, Special Recognition from the National Association of Broadcasters, several Telly Awards and several Parents’ Choice Awards.  

Nella earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kent State University and a Master of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University.

Nella continues to direct, produce, and write fiction films and documentaries.  

Jenna Suru

Women in Film Panelist

Festival Director, Producer, Writer, Actor

Jenna Suru started her career at the International Sales Team of 2 top Distributors in Paris, Gaumont and SND (M6 Group). Jenna has been working for Canneseries (Cannes Series Festival) since the kickstart of its first edition in 2018, managing the relationships with French and International Authors and Producers, and kickstarting the In Development Forum co-organized with MIP Markets in the Palais des Festivals. She has been serving as a very humble Juror on the recent edition of Cinequest and at the current edition of Columbus IFF.

She is the Director of the Paris International Film Festival, which presented in February the International Premiere of Kiss The Ground, the environemental documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson, and Cream, Nóra Lakos’s romantic modern tale, which was recently acquired by HBO.

She produced and stars in her directorial debut period drama L’Âge d’Or (The Golden Age), London IFF 2020 Opening Night Winner, with an international cast. The Golden Age is her tribute to the world-changing charms of 60s Saint-Tropez, and the last drama every filmed at Notre-Dame Cathedral before the fires. The Golden Age features a 60s soundtrack, including songs from Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed, and screened for the first time at Cannes in 2019. The film has received multiple awards and honors including at the Columbus IFF and sold-out the Opening Night of London IFF last March.

With her company Belle Époque Films, she has also produced the sold-out Los Angeles Premiere of Happy, published by Samuel French, and two UK shorts. The first, Spitball, was funded by the Northern Ireland Screen, and the second, Bigger Picture, stars BAFTA‐nominated Robert Sheehan (Misfits, The Umbrella Academy) and Rosie Day (Outlander).

Social media and links:

@jennasurureal on Instagram, Jenna Suru on Facebook, @jennasuru on Twitter

@belleepoquefilms on Instagram and Facebook, @bellepoquefilms on Twitter

@lagedorfilm on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

The Golden Age (L’Âge d’Or)  Trailer

Festival website : parisintlfest.com

Company website belleepoquefilms.com

IMDb / Youtube Channel

Nicolette Swift

Nicolette Swift is the founder and owner of Nicolettecinemagraphics.  Her roles include general business operations, production management, cinematography, color grading, editing, and much more. Her background includes a Bachelor of Arts in both Film Studies and Art History from the Ohio State University and a Masters in Library and Information Science with a focus in digital collections preservation and access from Kent State University. Since 2003, Nicolette has been providing an array of media production services to businesses, non-profits, and residents of the Central Ohio area. Nicolette is a well-rounded digital and analog media specialist who handles film photography, digital photography, videography, web and media installation and consultation, as well as producing her own projects which have shown at festivals and competitions across the US and abroad.  Over the past decade Nicolette has provided many services to the public offering workshops for the Greater Columbus Arts Council, 4-H, and Adobe Inc. She has a long history of curating moving image programs around Columbus, Ohio  as part of organizations such as: The Columbus Moving Image Art Review, The Columbus International Film + Video Festival, Comfest, and the Independents Day Festival.

Awards and Recognition:

2012-2019, Greater Columbus Arts Council Artist in the Community Resources Grant.

2014, Greater Columbus Arts Council Media Arts Fellowship for her work in moving image art.

2018-2019, Adaptation, Integration & the Arts Residency at Bridgeway Academy 

2020, Ohio Governor’s Award for Small Business Supporting the Arts by the Ohio Arts Council.

2019-2021, Artist in the Classroom Residency at Arts and College Prep Academy

2020, Those Who Spring of Me (Narrative Feature) Columbus ReelAbilities Film Festival

2021, Columbus In Cuba (Feature Documentary) Socal Film Awards Finalist

Cristyn Allen-Steward

Cristyn Steward is the founder and CEO of the Columbus Black International Film Festival (CBIFF). Her debut film, “Chocolate and Lace,” a short-story-turned-short-film tackling society’s ideas about love and sex, premiered at the Gateway Film Center in 2010 as a double bill alongside her second film, “Success It Sucks/Too Much Stress,” an autobiographical experimental short about life after college. In 2016, “Don’t Cover Your Tracks” was officially selected to several film festivals around the country. After returning home, finding success on the film festival circuit, Cristyn noticed that there was a void and a need for Black film presence in Columbus and thus created the Columbus Black International Film Festival. For the past four years CBIFF has received 309 film and screenplay submissions, screened 100 films, with global participation from 15 nations, and has connected hundreds of filmmakers around the world. Cristyn was the recipient of the Spirit of Columbus Award in 2018 and ‘Create Columbus,’ Visionary Award in 2019, and worked as assistant director on the web series “We Fight, We Love” with Artis Creative. For the first time in 2020, Cristyn, exhibited a film installation at ROY G. BIV Gallery, titled, When Black Panthers and the Nation Speaks, focusing on the parallels from the 1960s to the 21st century police brutality. Cristyn is the recipient of the Art Unites Cbus Film and Art grant awarded by the Greater Columbus Arts Council. From the grant, Cristyn wrote and directed Blue Rebellion, a short film about Desiree Reynolds who joins the police force after watching her father die at the hands of the police. Cristyn is currently the Executive Director for the Columbus International Film and Animation Festival.