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Women of Color Incubator 2024

The National Association of Latino Independent Producers has unveiled the fourth cohort of the Women of Color Incubator.

Carolina Costa (“The Feels – Or The Debilitated Condition Of The Reproductive System”), Luna Cristales (“Statelines”), Sonia Malfa (“La Sangre Llama”), Alba Roland Mejia (“Greetings From St. Helena”) and Sally Tran (“Love Cycle”) are among the chosen filmmakers.

The Women of Color Incubator is funded by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity and offers emerging filmmakers the resources needed to bring their original short films to life. With guidance from NALIP and Netflix executives, they receive comprehensive support throughout the entire filmmaking process — from pre-production through post-production and distribution.

In addition to institutional backing, each filmmaker is awarded a $35,000 grant to produce their film. The completed works will be showcased during a special screening at NALIP’s Diverse Women in Media Forum, set to take place on April 3rd, 2024.

Learn More

2021 Cohort • 2022 Cohort • 2023 Cohort

Carolina Costa

Carolina is a renowned cinematographer with 15 features under her belt that premiered at festivals such Cannes, Venice, Tribeca, Sundance etc. Last year she won Best Cinematography at Tribeca for her work on Hannah Peterson's feature THE GRADUATES. She lensed two features premiering at Sundance 2023 - David Zonana’s HEROIC and Erica Tremblay’s FANCY DANCE. Other films she’s DP’d include HALA, Tara Miele’s WANDER DARKLY, and Venice’s award-winning documentary BABENCO. Her work on the Cannes feature film THE CHOSEN ONES earned Costa an Ariel Award for Best Cinematography. Carolina has just lensed Ryan Murphy’s new up coming horror show titled GROTESQUERIE. Costa is in development for her first feature as a director and meanwhile has written a trilogy of short films. ECSTASY had its premiere at Tribeca last year followed by a screening at MoMa for Future of Film is Female. The second one - A VIOLENT INSURRECTION OF FEELINGS - is wrapping post right now.

Luna Cristales

Luna is a writer and director from Lake Tahoe, CA currently based in the Bay-Area. She is a first-generation Salvadoran-American and a graduate of San Francisco State University's Cinema program. Her short film “Draw Yourself to Sleep” was an SFSU Film Finals select in 2020. She is a 2020 NALIP Emerging Content Creator recipient and 2023 fellow of the PANO x Able Cine Cinematographers lab powered by Canon. Luna’s narrative works are inspired by her rural working-class upbringing and the stories of the women who raised her.

Sonia Malfa

As a writer/director, Sonia’s creative voice centers on the stories of women, LGBTQ+ and people of the global majority. Her work has received accolades from numerous festivals around the world including the Tribeca Film Festival, Clios, Webbys, 1.4 Awards, One Show Awards and Kinsale Shark Awards. She has been awarded grants from the Jerome Foundation, NYSCA Individual Artist, and was selected for the DGA/AICP Commercial Director’s Diversity Program and the NALIP Woman of Color Film Incubator. 

Sonia is in development on her directorial narrative feature debut, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNI. The script was invited to the Gotham Project Market: US Features In Development (2024), NALIP Latino Media Accelerator (2024), Film Independent’s Fast Track (2023), the WIF and Sundance Financing Intensive (2022), and received support from the Jerome Foundation.

Alba Roland Mejia 

Alba Roland Mejia is an award winning writer, producer, and director based in Oakland, CA. Alba grew up as a first generation American citizen in The Alisal of Salinas California where she found her love of filmmaking. After receiving her BA in Cinematic arts, she followed her passion of storytelling to The Bay Area where she earned an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University and received the Graduate Award for Distinguished Achievement. With support from Barry Jenkins, her thesis film, My Own Mecca, went on to win several awards including Best Student Film at the 2021 BronzeLens Film Festival. Her following film, Blackness is Everything, created in collaboration with BAYCAT Studio for black history month was well received on Vimeo - earning the project the Vimeo Staff Pick Best of the Year in 2022 & earning Alba one of Vimeo's Best New Creators of 2022. Alba continues to produce work that focuses on underrepresented stories and strives to capture the true essence of storytelling by pulling from real life experiences.

Sally Tran

Sally Tran is a Vietnamese-New Zealand filmmaker based in NYC, whose work reflects a deep commitment to storytelling rooted in her cultural heritage. Her career is distinguished by achievements from prestigious institutions such as Tribeca Film Institute, the New Zealand Film Commission, NYFA, and Vimeo BIPOC Fund. Tran's dedication to cinema has earned her numerous accolades, including the Massey University Writers Residency, selection for Berlinale Talents, and the Script to Screen Killer Films Grant. Her upcoming documentary, Still a Go Between, has recently secured funding from the BRIC Labs Cohort and the Tribeca Initiative. Sally's upcoming films, DON’T—set for its international premiere this September at Toronto International Film Festival 2024 —and the unreleased short recently finished Clementine. These works offer poignant reflections on Asian Hate Crimes, displacement, community dynamics, and the complexities of transgender identity. Through her artistry and dedication, she continues to craft narratives that resonate deeply, telling underrepresented stories and fostering empathy among audiences worldwide.