Jess X. Snow

Biography: Jess X. Snow is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, multi-disciplinary artist and author envisioning futures where the most marginalized of land and life is sacred. They bring their background in murals, visual art and poetry into their sensorial films which bring the inner healing journeys of queer Asian migrants to the big screen. Recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film, they have written and directed four short films currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and the National Film Board of Canada. They previously screened at university classrooms and film festivals worldwide: including BFI London, International Film Festival Rotterdam, BlackStar, Ann Arbor, and Durban (Special Mention of the Jury). They are a Film Independent Fast Track fellow for their debut narrative feature, WHEN THE RIVER SPLIT OPEN. Recently, they served as a producer and cinematographer on WE WERE THE SCENERY (Sundance Short Film Jury Award for Non-Fiction) currently shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards and named a best short of the year by Vimeo Staff Picks and Film Comment. They received their MFA in screenwriting and directing from NYU. Specializing in cross-cultural and multi-lingual storytelling, their films have taken them across North America and to China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Prior to film, over the last decade they created dozens of community murals that unveil the emotional landscapes of social movements.