Abdullah Khan

Abdullah Khan is a Toronto-based writer, director, and producer, and the founder and CEO of Brown Noise Media, a film and documentary production company. His work has been showcased at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and Rich Mix in London. His short film A Clay Horse screened at several Oscar-qualifying festivals and won seven awards, while his latest, The Saint & The Sea, was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. Khan studied filmmaking at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and is a 2023 alumnus of the Goethe-Institute’s Film Talents Program.

Ahmed Fawzi Attia

Ahmed Fawzi Attia is an award-winning 2D animator and director with 20+ years of experience creating socially conscious content for children and youth. His work explores themes like disability, puberty, and migration, and has screened at festivals, schools, and on TV worldwide. Trained in Cairo, he has mentored across Egypt, Morocco, and India. Now based in Canada, he continues to animate stories of culture and belonging, while serving on juries and contributing to animation education and history.

Elena Panfilov

Elena Panfilov is a Toronto-based photographer and visual artist, originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Over the past 15 years, she has developed a distinctive voice combining photography, photojournalism, and design. Her portraits focus on identity, emotion, and human connection, particularly celebrating women, capturing sincerity and overlooked beauty. Inspired by her mother’s film photography and artists like Cartier-Bresson and Bassman, Elena creates spaces where genuine expressions emerge. Through her work, she explores light, shadow, and presence, using photography as a tool to connect people and tell authentic stories.

André Kamehama

André Kamehama has over six years of experience in the film industry, specializing in graphic design, audience engagement, and marketing strategies for film releases. He has worked with major independent distributors, including Imovision and O2 Play, contributing key visuals and promotional campaigns for films such as Monster (Hirokazu Koreeda), Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven), and Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola). Active in the festival scene, André has supported TIFF, Hot Docs, Inside Out, Reel Asian, and the Canadian Film Festival through social media strategy, programming, and event coordination.

Armyn Naderi

Armyn Naderi is a Toronto-based filmmaker whose work is rooted in philosophy, history, and lived experience. Shaped by a childhood immersed in sound and image, he began his career at Nader Film Shargh, producing over 200 commercial films before co-founding Noghteh, an underground film collective in Iran. Over seven years, the group produced 32 independent films under restrictive conditions. His recent works include A Borrowed Life (Prime) and the unfinished Eternal Moments, tied to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement. Naderi now collaborates with the University of Toronto’s Institute of Iranian Studies.

Can Deniz Atici

Can Deniz Atici is a filmmaker and visual storyteller from İstanbul, now based in Toronto. With a background in design and film, he has worked on seven feature films and taught filmmaking to children in Turkey. His short Black Box (2020) screened at 27 international festivals and won three awards. He recently directed the docu-series Game Changers (2024) and is developing new projects, including the short Happy Birthday, Kızım, selected for Talents Sarajevo 2025.

Maliha Ali

Maliha Ali is an illustrator and printmaker from Karachi, now based in Toronto. Her handmade drawings of people, food, places, and everyday objects document both the silly and the serious parts of life. Maliha’s first book, It’s OK to Be Sad, was published in 2022. She has worked with clients including OCAD University, Union Hotel, Serviette Magazine, Cake Zine and more. Maliha’s work has been shown at the Toronto Public Library and featured in The Globe and Mail. Her books and artworks are available in shops across Toronto.

Mohammed Mir Mahmoud

Mohammed Mir Mahmoud (Meer) is a Toronto-based Syrian photographer, guitarist, and visual artist. Inspired by his mother’s paintings, he shifted to photography in 2019, blending minimalism and storytelling. His work has been shown internationally through GuruShots (New York, Lisbon, Budapest) and earned an honourable mention in the 500px Minimalism Photography Competition. In Toronto, he has exhibited in shows like Next Steps (Etobicoke Civic Centre) and curated Wandering with Music Without Borders. Meer also uses photography to document lived experiences, including a photovoice project for newcomers at the University of Victoria.

Mei Wu

Mei Wu is a Toronto-based media artist and visual storyteller whose cross-cultural experiences in China, Australia, the UK, and Canada shape her emotionally layered, visually compelling work. She creates original content across film, television, digital, and experimental platforms, exploring themes of identity, emotion, and human connection. Blending traditional narrative craft with emerging visual technologies, Mei develops striking works that bridge cultural boundaries and invite audiences into shared spaces of resonance and reflection.

Parmeet Arora Bori

Parmeet Arora Bori is an Indian-born, Toronto-based artist with over 18 years of international experience in surface pattern design. Her recent practice spans children’s book illustration, 2D animation, digital media, and nostalgic oil paintings on repurposed canvases exploring memory, identity, and belonging. Since moving to Canada, she has actively exhibited, published, and contributed to community projects, including TOAF, engaging diverse audiences through her art.

Sara Oveissi

Sara Oveissi is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary visual artist working primarily in photography, video, and mixed media. Her work explores themes of memory, identity, displacement, and emotional transformation through mediums such as graphic design, collage, and digital art. Rooted in storytelling and visual experimentation, her practice often blurs the line between reality and inner experience. She has exhibited in Iran and Berlin and continues to create poetic, emotionally resonant projects that invite complex feelings to be seen, felt, and shared.

Tyra Pinto

Tyra Pinto is an emerging UX designer passionate about community-centered work that fosters positive social change. With a background in hospitality, they learned how small details shape experiences—a perspective that now informs their empathetic, intentional design practice. Tyra approaches UX as more than functionality, creating meaningful, intuitive digital experiences that promote equity and human connection. Focused on supporting small businesses and grassroots initiatives, their work emphasizes collaboration, experimentation, and deep listening, crafting systems and tools that genuinely meet people’s needs.

Hong Yu Chan

Hong Yu Chan is a Deaf photographer and visual artist from Hong Kong, now based in Toronto. Trained in Product Design at the Hong Kong Design Institute, he has over eight years of professional experience. His work explores cultural identity, human connection, and community storytelling, blending documentary realism with poetic expression. Yu’s first solo exhibition, Diversified Life: A Cultural Visual Journey (CONTACT 2025), featured 55 works spanning Asia and North America. He also volunteers with local organizations, using photography to amplify marginalized voices and foster cultural understanding.

Aditi Ganeev Sangwan

Aditi Ganeev Sangwan is a Brampton-based visual artist, art educator, and founder of Art Studio Izza, a collaborative for contemporary art and community engagement. Born in India, she holds a PhD in Visual Art from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, and brings over two decades of artistic and academic experience. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she was recently honored with the 2024 Citizen Award for Art Acclaim by the City of Brampton.

Alek Phan

Alek Phan is a visual artist whose work explores cultural heritage, identity, and the natural world. Using cultural totems as metaphors for time, they create pieces that bridge past, present, and future, where history and memory intertwine. Holding a B.A. in Cultures and Literature with postgraduate studies in Arts Education and Community Engagement, Alek blends tradition and contemporary expression to reflect lived experience, belonging, and ancestral storytelling.

Alireza Keymanesh

Alireza Keymanesh is a Toronto-based filmmaker, actor, contemporary dance artist, and educator. His work explores identity, resistance, and challenges social and artistic conventions. He holds an MFA in Film from York University and a BA in Acting from Tehran University of Art, and conducted a year-long dance-theater project at ArtEZ University, Netherlands. His films, including Flatland and My Lovely Home, have screened internationally, earning multiple awards. A two-time recipient of Iran’s Best Actor award, he founded 33Projects and 33School, cultivating radical, body-mind-centered approaches to dance, theater, and cinema.

Fatema Muhammad Hussain

Fatema Muhammad Hussain is a multidisciplinary artist and art educator from Pakistan, now based in Canada. A graduate of the Centre of Excellence in Arts and Design, Jamshoro, she has exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Pakistan, Dubai, Belarus, and the United States. Her practice explores metaphysical experiences and healing through printmaking, mixed media, and interactive installations. Alongside her teaching in Pakistan and Canada, she volunteers with the Aga Khan Museum, supporting workshops that connect culture and creativity.

Gurdeep Singh

Gurdeep Singh is a visual artist working across painting, collage, mixed media, photography, and community-based projects. He holds a BFA from the Government College of Art, Chandigarh, and an MFA from the College of Art, New Delhi. Singh has held nine solo exhibitions internationally and participated in over 100 group shows. A two-time Vermont Studio Center resident, he also serves as an educator and juror, leading workshops that promote creativity, dialogue, and community engagement through art.

Jim Libiran

Jim Libiran is a filmmaker, writer, poet, broadcast journalist, and social entrepreneur whose work spans film, social advocacy, and community engagement. His documentaries have covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Mindanao, as well as socio-cultural stories in the Philippines. His debut feature, Tribu, cast real gang members from Tondo, while Happyland involved local soccer players and residents. Libiran’s unorthodox, verismo style has earned 15 international and local awards, including Festival Paris Cinema’s Pari de l’Avenir. He also specializes in innovative, multi-modal educational approaches that enhance participants’ skills and knowledge.

Natalie Sze Wai

Natalie Sze Wai is a Toronto-based visual artist, born in Hong Kong, with a BFA (Honours) in Scenic Art from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Rooted in dance and performance, she approaches painting as an extension of the body, where gestures and rhythms transform inner feelings into visual form. Blending Symbolism and Surrealism, her practice explores emotion, memory, and transformation. Inspired by Hong Kong’s neon vibrancy and Toronto’s reflective landscapes, she has exhibited in Canada and the UK.

Naz Salih

Naz Salih is a Toronto-based Kurdish filmmaker, instructor, and multidisciplinary artist. With over a decade of experience in film, theatre, and cultural programming, her work explores memory, identity, war, and the personal-political divide. From 2014 to 2022, she led Wind Collective for Theatre in the Kurdistan Region. Her films have been screened internationally and received multiple Best Film awards. Salih holds an MA in Filmmaking from the University of Essex and a BA from the University of Salahaddin.

Rishikesh Sharma

Rishikesh Sharma (Rishi) is a community arts facilitator whose practice centers on collective expression and healing. Beginning in photography, he has expanded into music and visual arts, using creativity to express the unspoken and foster calm. His collaborative work includes projects with Access Alliance, such as a community-inspired song and interactive workshops. Working with newcomers and seniors, Rishi champions accessible art and continues to lead workshops promoting mental health, resilience, and collective healing through shared creativity.

Atish Mukhopadhyay

Atish Mukhopadhyay is a Sarode virtuoso, educator, and cultural ambassador of the Maihar Seniya Gharana, a leading tradition of North Indian Classical Music. With over 40 years of training and nearly 20 years performing internationally, he has given 600+ solo concerts across India, North America, Russia, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan. An experienced educator, he has taught full curricula and led 500+ masterclasses worldwide. Honored with the Nikolai Rubinstein Medal and recognized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Atish is celebrated for his powerful, improvisation-rich artistry.​

Sora Kheiry

Sora Kheiry is a visual artist and arts educator with over six years of experience teaching in Iran. Her practice spans drawing, painting, and mixed media, exploring human relationships, culture, and social narratives through visual symbols. She has designed workshops for children, youth, and adults, emphasizing experimentation, observation, and critical reflection. Sora has also volunteered with organizations such as the Aurora Cultural Centre and CCSYR, integrating art with cultural learning. Her work fosters curiosity, artistic growth, and meaningful visual storytelling.