Headshot of Jillian smiling slightly and looking at the camera. She has long wavy hair.
Jillian Schlesinger
Photo courtesy Jillian Schlesinger
Co-Director & Producer

Jillian Schlesinger (she/her) is an independent producer whose collaborative filmmaking work explores stories of youth through the eyes of those living it. Her debut film, Maidentrip (SXSW 2013 Visions Audience Award) is an intimate first-person chronicle of Laura Dekker's controversial quest to become the youngest person to sail alone around the world. Jillian's forthcoming second feature, Silvia Castaños & Estefanía Contreras’s Hummingbirds, captures a summer in the lives of inseparable friends coming of age in a Texas border town. Hummingbirds is currently in post-production and supported by Sundance Documentary Fund, Field of Vision, Ford Foundation/JustFilms, Threshold Fund, SFFILM, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Arts2Work, Frameline, and NBCU Original Voices Fellowship.

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Portrait of a woman with medium long hair, thick black frames and laughing and looking away from the camera
Karla Bukantz
Photo courtesy Karla Bukantz
Portrait of a woman with long hair, smiling and looking to something out of frame to her right
Mara Adina
Photo courtesy Mara Adina
A black and white photo of a seated woman with curly dark hear, wearing a black tank top, seen from the side with a camera in the foreground.
Emily Mkrtichian
Photo courtesy Emily Mkrtichian
Headshot of a woman with long hair and looking above the camera, wearing a black turtle neck and beret
Contessa Gayles
Photo courtesy Contessa Gayles
Headshot of a woman with dark hair and hoops smiling slightly at the camera
Anita Lee
Photo courtesy Anita Lee
Headshot of a woman with earrings smiling at the camera
Ina Fichman
Photo courtesy Ina Fichman
Portrait of a woman with medium dark hair looking at the camera
Yuqi Kang
Photo courtesy Yuqi Kang
Headshot of Picho Garcia, a man with medium length wavy hair, mustache, and thick rounded frames.
Picho Garcia
Photo courtesy Picho Garcia
Headshot of Gabriela Pena, a woman with bangs, staring at the camera
Gabriela Pena
Photo courtesy Gabriela Pena
Portrait of a man with short hair and short beard, wearing a short and a t-shirt underneath
Keith Wilson
Photo courtesy Keith Wilson
A photograph of a young woman with long dark brown hair smiling. She is wearing a blue sleeveless collared shirt, and sitting in front of an off-white background. The photograph is cropped at the shoulder.
Sierra Urich
Photo courtesy Sierra Urich
Portrait of a woman with medium long curly hair and frame glasses
Paulina Villegas
Photo courtesy Paulina Villegas
Headshot of a woman with dark hair and a ponytail looking at the camera
Maricarmen Merino Mora
Photo courtesy Maricarmen Merino Mora
Headshot of Director Indira Cato, a woman with curly medium hair, smiling at the camera, on a garden with purple flowers.
Indira Cato
Photo courtesy Indira Cato
A warm color portrait of filmmaker Jonna McKone standing outdoors in daylight and looking at the camera. She has short curly brown hair and is wearing a black dress, a slender chain around with a round pendant. The background is out of focus with some greenery, a small lake, and a few buildings.
Jonna McKone
Photo courtesy Jonna McKone
A warm color portrait of Chithra Jeyaram, a South Asian filmmaker, smiling directly at the camera. She's wearing a navy blue top, a stone-studded nose ring, and large semi-dome-shaped silver earrings. Her shoulder-length dark brown hair is gathered on her left shoulder.
Chithra Jeyaram
Photo: Murshitha Sheereen
Portrait of a woman facing the camera, she wears a short sleeve shirt, and has medium wavy hair, there is a flare on the upper right side corner
Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan
Photo courtesy Monica Lazurean
Portrait of a man with short hair and his head tilted to the right, he wears t-shirt under a shirt, the background is an open air forest landscape
Radu Ciorniciuc
Photo courtesy Radu Ciorniciuc
Portrait of a woman wearing a short sleeve shirt and looking directly at the camera.
Lina Vdovîi
Photo courtesy Lina Vdovîi
Headshot of a man folding his arms on his chest, he wears a long sleeve shirt and short hair, he looks at the camera
Marius Markevicius
Photo courtesy Marius Markevicius
Headshot of a man wearing thick frames, short hair, looking directly at the camera and slightly smiling.
Christian Popp
Photo courtesy Christian Popp
Portrait of a man wearing a hat standing in an open field, he wears a jacket and looks seriously at the camera
Ivo Felt
Photo courtesy Ivo Felt
Portrait of producer Volia Chajkouskaya
Volia Chajkouskaya
Photo courtesy Volia Chajkouskaya
Headshot of a man with short hair, beard, wearing a shirt with a t-shirt underneath.
Radu Stancu
Photo courtesy Radu Stancu
Headshot of a woman smiling, leaning her head to the left. Her hair is tied in the back, she wears a handkerchief on her neck and a sleeveless blouse.
Alexandra Galvis
Photo courtesy Alexandra Galvis
Profile shot of a man with beard and a fedora hat, wearing a shirt
Nicolas van Hemelryck
Photo: Geraldine Aresteanu
Headshot of a woman looking directly at the camera, her medium length hair is parted on the left
Clare Weiskopf
Photo courtesy Clare Weiskopf
Mathieu Faure wears a T-shirt and cap and looks upward with his right hand holding a camera.
Mathieu Faure
Photo courtesy Mathieu Faure
Pascale Appora-Gnekindy looks towards the camera. She wears a dark yellow African dress and yellowish necklace and sits on the riverbank.
Pascale Appora-Gnekindy
Photo courtesy Pascale Appora-Gnekindy
Ningyi Sun, wears a white T-shirt and gently smiles towards the camera.
Ningyi Sun
Photo courtesy Ningyi Sun
Maia Lekow headshot. Headshot of a woman with curly short hair, a long sleeve shirt and a necklace, looking at the camera
Maia Lekow
Photo courtesy Maia Lekow
Headshot of a man with short hair, beard, a polo shirt and a jacket, looking at the camera
Christopher King
Photo courtesy Christopher King
Portrait of Ana Rodriguez, wearing a sleeveless shirt, cowboy hat and touching the left side of her head with a finger
Ana Rodriguez-Falco
Photo courtesy Ana Rodriguez-Falco
Portrait of a woman with shoulder length hair looking at her reflection in a mirror, wearing a t-shirt
Diane Ng
Photo courtesy Diane Ng
Photograph of a man with a buttoned shirt, medium hair and a mustache, looking at the camera
Miguel Drake-McLaughlin
Photo courtesy Miguel Drake-McLaughlin
Leslie is wearing a cowboy hat and hoop earrings. The sky is in the background.
Leslie Benavides
Photo courtesy Leslie Benavides
Photo of Estefanía Contreras’s reflection on a mirror. She is wearing a black dress in a field. Her hand is pushing her hair behind her ear.
Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
Photo courtesy Estefanía Contreras
Photo of Silvia Castaños’s reflection on a mirror. She is wearing a long sleeve black dress in a field.
Silvia Del Carmen Castaños
Photo courtesy Silvia Castaños
A young, Taiwanese-American woman with chin-length black hair is wearing a brown sweater and standing in front of a gray wall.
Vicky Du
Photo courtesy Vicky Du
Houston, a two spirit member of the Miccosukee Tribe, has long dark hair, glasses, and is wearing a Miccosukee patchwork top
Houston Cypress
Photo courtesy Houston Cypress
Portrait of Sasha Wortzel in black and white. A white woman with wavy brown hair in a fur trimmed coat and looks at the camera with their hands clasped.
Sasha Wortzel
Photo courtesy Sasha Wortzel
Danielle, a white woman in a blue top and hoop earrings, smiles
Danielle Varga
Photo courtesy Danielle Varga
Portrait of a woman looking at the ground while holding a camera on her right shoulder, she wears a hat and a long sleeve shirt
Natalie A. Chao
Photo courtesy Natalie Chao
Portrait of a woman with a top knot bun, smiling widely at the camera
Sharon Yeung
Photo courtesy Sharon Yeung
Headshot of a woman with long hair and smiling at the camera
Jessica Jane Hart
Photo courtesy Jessica Jane Hart
Headshot of a man smiling at the camera, with long hair, black frames, and wearing a shirt with flowers with a t-shirt underneath.
Ivan MacDonald
Photo courtesy Ivan Macdonald
Headshot of a woman with short hair combed backwards, leather jacket, and a shirt with flowers underneath. She looks at the camera
Ivy MacDonald
Photo courtesy Ivy MacDonald
Headshot of Amit Madheshiya- he has black hair and is wearing a blue shirt with a white coat.
Amit Madheshiya
Photo courtesy Amit Madheshiya
Headshot of Shirley Abraham- she has black hair and is wearing black-rimmed spectacles and a red scarf.
Shirley Abraham
Photo courtesy Shirley Abraham
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