DIRECTOR / CO-PRODUCER

CO-WRITER

Pascale Appora-Gnekindy hails from the Central African Republic (CAR). She is the owner of Kea-Kwis Production, a video production company in Bangui, CAR. She co-directed her first feature documentary Eat Bitter in 2023. In 2017, she directed “My Eyes To Hear”, a documentary short about a boy overcoming his disability in a land where the disabled are marginalized. The film was an official selection of The International Film Festival of Kinsaha and Film Festival Africlap. In 2019, she directed “Two Sisters”, the journey of two sisters who struggle to find the right balance between their studies, their life at home and their femininity. Pascale came to film production from the IT world. She started studying films when she was selected to participate in 2016 in documentary filmmaking workshops organized by the French Alliance of Bangui and the Ateliers Varan.

CO-DIRECTOR / CO-PRODUCER

CO-WRITER / SECOND CAMERA

A Chinese national, Ningyi Sun is a film director, writer, and actor and a grantee of Sundance, Hot Docs Blue Ice, Ford Foundation, IDFA Bertha Fund, and Chicken & Egg Pictures . Her documentary feature Eat Bitter about a Chinese construction manager and a local sand laborer pursuing happiness in a civil war in the Central African Republic was her first attempt at making a film. Eat Bitter had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in 2023 and has been screened in Hot Docs, Vision du Reel, Shanghai International Film Festival, Encounters South Africa Documentary Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Doc Edge and more. Before diving into the filmmaking world, she worked for the United Nations peace operation in the Central African Republic.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / PRODUCER

CO-WRITER / CO-EDITOR

Mathieu Faure is a producer, editor and an independent filmmaker who won the 2018 Student Academy Awards in the Domestic Documentary category for his personal film called An Edited Life. In 2018 he graduated from the News and Documentary Masters program at the L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU. Since then, Mathieu worked for the CNN Documentary unit, before joining Don Lemon's team on his show CNN Tonight. After that, Mathieu was a field producer and worked on a series of documentaries for CNN + and Fareed Zakaria.

Prior to the US, Mathieu was a reporter inside a breaking newsroom in Paris, France. He worked for four years and produced articles and video reports for M6 television. Mathieu graduated Magna Cum Laude from La Sorbonne University in Paris where he obtained his Master's degree in Political Science.

Mathieu is currently a field producer at Apple.

CINEMATOGRAPHER / CO-PRODUCER

Born in the Central African Republic, Orphé Zaza is a cinematographer, producer, editor, leader of youth organizations, and co-founder of the film production company OAZ Picture Entertainment. Orphé Zaza has 13 years of experience in film and video production, mainly short films and music videos. Orphé was director of photography of the film "Zokwezo" (2016), which was released theatrically in the United States and of the film "Even In The Rain"(2018), a VR film released in 2018.

As Director, Orphé directed short films like “Asara Yé a Pè” (Tolerance) in 2013, “A lingbi awè” (That’s Enough) in 2015, “The fruit of evil” in 2020, “The Power of Dialogue” in 2020. He was the Director of photography and Co-producer of the feature-length documentary “Eat Bitter” in 2023 and director of the fiction feature film “Ani Gui Tirani” in 2023.

Besides filmmaking, Orphé heads communication of the activities for organizations of Tongolo Events, Rainbow Movement NGO, and CIVIPOL-Conseil RCA Company. He is also a member of the Varan Workshops, a project funded by the European Union to train young film directors and video editors between 2017 and 2020.

SOUND ENGINEER / ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Born in the Central African Republic, Aaron was trained in 2018 by French filmmakers as part of the Ateliers Varan program. He started his career as a sound engineer working on the film “Camille” made by French Director Boris. He pursued this path working on multiple projects directed by local filmmakers. He was also in charge of the sound for institutional films made by the Alliance française de Bangui and in collaboration with French director Léo Torreton. In 2019, Aaron worked on three consecutive European Union projects. When he is not dealing with sound, Aaron is acting. He got a role in the film by Central African director Fariala Rafiki called “We Students.”

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Steve Dorst is currently VP of Production for Perpetuo Films. Steve has been a full-time non-fiction film director and producer for 15+ years. Most recently, he served as director and cinematographer on “Dani’s Twins,” [2022]. His first film, “Volcanic Sprint,” [2007] was distributed globally by American Public Television. “Shattered Sky” [2012] tells the story of how America led the world to solve the biggest environmental crisis ever seen (the ozone crisis), contrasting with inactivity on climate change policy. It played on PBS, sponsored by Maryland Public Television. Steve’s feature documentary “Jobs for G.I.s” [2015] was acquired by DirecTV’s The Audience Channel. Since 2002, Steve has also produced short films for international organizations that do good, filming in 30+ countries. Steve holds an MA in Economics and African Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and lived in Cameroon as a young man.

FILM COMPOSER

Cal Freundlich is a celebrated film composer and songwriter from NYC with a masters in music from NYU Steinhardt. His music is recognized for its unique combination of acoustic, organic, and electronic instruments. Cal’s diverse capabilities have allowed him to write music for a wide variety of acclaimed projects, from award winning documentary and narrative films to highly touted video games and web-comics. His work has been featured at festivals such as the Tribeca Film Festival, Berlinale, Doc NYC, and most recently, CPH: DOX. He was also the composer for multiple Student Academy Award and BAFTA Award winning films, including the 2022 Student Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, Found.

Outside of film, Cal makes music as a solo artist by the name of Caleb Moore, and recently released his second single, "sunshine" on all streaming platforms.