Video Diaries 2022

The Video Diaries cohort of 2022 are a talented group of storytellers from underrepresented communities whose documentaries will bring visibility to experiences that are often untold or misrepresented in the predominantly white and male film industry. The program guides filmmakers of color who are passionate about documenting their journeys through an 8-week workshop series designed to develop their videography and editing skills, as well as help them conceptualize and create their personal documentary or video poem.

Interested in applying to an upcoming cohort? Visit the Applications page to get started, or email info@justiceformysister.org for details.

  • Daniel Bisuano is an actor, writer, poet, and advocate. He continues to pursue his dream and goals to pursue his creative goals while also empowering his community through his advocacy work. Daniel has been an advocate for seven years and has worked with, and been a part of, organizations like Homeboys Industries, Anti-Recidivism Coalition, California Justice leaders and Inside Out Writers. Daniel continues to strive to not only better himself but also his community around him. Having spent seven years in the justice system as a youth he has a strong passion for the empowerment and advocacy of the formerly incarcerated community. Living as a former foster youth, Daniel believes that many different communities intertwine and has a strong passion for creating awareness and change amongst each one. Currently Daniel is on the board and committees of different community advocacy organizations like Reproductive Health and Equity Project for Foster youth, Integrated Health community with the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership and the BUS ambassador program with U.C Berkeley and just got appointed as a Youth Commissioner for District 3. As well as his different engagements with advocacy Daniel is a part time student at Los Angeles Trade Technical Community College majoring in English. Daniel continues to explore different ways to help the community through his work as well as different ways to share the stories of people impacted by the various barriers associated with being involved within the system.

  • Erica is an accomplished actress with over 8 years of stage, improv, and television experience. A multi-hyphenate skilled in radio and television broadcasting, videography, prose, and music. A passionate storyteller who’s vision evokes emotion in every audience. A social media phenom, she keeps up with the latest trends from IG to TikTok.

    A recent graduate of Illinois Media Institute specializing in radio and television, she's an on-air personality/producer at WGLB. For fun, she’s a livestream host who talks, sings, and interviews people all over the world. She’s married to the love of her life and has two beautiful girls.

  • Ximena Medina Vásquez (Lima, 1996) is an audiovisual communicator, independent filmmaker and photographer. She is a screenwriter, director, producer and editor of independent Peruvian film projects and corporate videos for medium and large companies. She has written and directed “Tupananchiskama- Till we meet again” (2018), “Sea woman” (2019) and “The statement” (2019). She has recently collectively made the transmedia medium-length film “the_girls.mp4” (2021) and debuted as a performer in the video-performance documentary “Healing ritual for a Papaya” (2021).

  • I'm a lost soul in the City of Angels and Demons where people come to shine on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood and others like me The Originals the OG's of LA who seen all the different sides of the streets and alleys growing up poor with a hard-working single mother who herself escaped El Salvador's war and poverty to chase a dream in America. USA the land of the Damned and nothing is free but the sweat, pain, tears, and few smiles with bursts of laughter as all I can remember. In the 1976 summer of loving a Bicentennial baby girl was born in the City of Angels to a Mexican immigrant alcoholic father and a hard-working Salvadorian Warrior woman. I had the best of two worlds as far as culture and food. I was raised in the MacArthur Park area of LA and I experienced a lot of hardships and some good victories. During my teen years I was part of an after-school program named H.O.L.A I started writing plays under their program I wrote 3 plays with full production. I was in love with the process of creating. It kept me off the streets most of the time. I was able to explore through my writing new worlds and new ideas. I truly enjoyed it. Eventually the streets took me in and I lost my way. I have come a long way to tell my story of redemption from being born into poverty, sexual, mental, and physical abuse I overcame despite all the odds against me and despite my own self sabotage. I was able to reconnect to my roots and began to get closer to prayer and the healing process. I'm reconnecting with my writing and storytelling.

  • X Rios (aka Dante G. aka Best Intentions) is a multi-medium artist focused on telling a honest, detailed account of their time in the juvenile justice and foster care systems. They hope their story will be able to speak to a variety of audiences and bring awareness to the injustices brought into the youth involved in the system. X strives to eventually become a lawyer where they will continue to advocate for underrepresented communities. X currently lives in Pasadena, CA where they actively volunteer in the community with a variety of organizations.

  • Jackelyn Santiago (she/they) also creatively known as Jackster/Artivist Productions is a latina native-seeking media artist still discovering roots from Soyapango, El Salvador y Chiapas, Mexico. Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, they blossom as well as struggle in the depth of a city with so much culture and rising gentrification. Through the power of art making, she brings light to issues that many individuals try to keep hidden from the public eye. From her first short film Queer Baby (2018) to Ultra Gay Protection (2020), she uses her individual experiences as a seed for her creativity. Art for them is a way of activism in which experiences are discussed, used as a form of education and shared with those who have never been given a stage to speak. From drawings to graphic design, photography and film, her content varies in all of its forms as she lets her creativity fly high as a bird. They've worked through teasers, PSAs, music videos, reality TV shows, documentaries and films. Please visit their website (www.jackelynsantiago.com) to see their content and reach out to collaborate as they are actively looking for other QTBIPOC that are pushing for revolutionary change both in this industry and the world around them.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

-Maya Angelou