Our AoBFF Jury

ANNABELLA SCIORRA is an actor, director and a born-and-raised Brooklynite. She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead for the 1989 film TRUE LOVE and came to widespread attention in her co-lead role in Spike Lee's 1991 film JUNGLE FEVER. She starred in the 1992 thriller THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE and received critical acclaim for her work in COP LAND. She received an Emmy nomination for her role as Gloria Trillo in the HBO series "The Sopranos" and recently appeared on Broadway in "The Motherf**er With The Hat." Annabella can be seen in the new series "Tulsa King" with Sylvester Stallone on Paramount+.

“I love what the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival is doing. Their mission to focus on Brooklyn films and filmmakers speaks to me because I was born and raised here and it influenced who I am as an artist. Hollywood has always had a love affair with Brooklyn, which now has a festival worthy of its incredibly diverse film scene.” - Annabella Sciorra

ELLIOTT  LESTER is a multi-disciplinary director who began his career as an award winning music video and commercial director, taking home Clios, Telly Awards, and Cannes Lions for his work. He directed the feature  NIGHTINGALE starring David Oyelowo and has done work for major brands including McDonald’s, Lexus, and Sony and has directed iconic videos for artists including 30 Seconds to Mars, The Fray, and Santigold. In 2006, Lester made his theatrical filmmaking debut with the ensemble feature LOVE IS THE DRUG, which premiered at Sundance. He followed that up with the Jason Statham/Paddy Considine starrer BLITZ for Lionsgate in 2011. As well as directing, he also recently produced two feature films: “Basmati Blues” which stars the award winning Brie Larson and Donald Sutherland, as well as “Captive” which stars David Oyelowo and Kate Mara.

“Brooklyn is long overdue for a major film festival. I heard about the AoBFF in LA from (producer) Dustin Williams and asked to be a judge. These guys are smart and well-connected, and I’m excited about this festival — it could be Brooklyn’s Tribeca.” - Elliott Lester

DAVE CHAN is the founder of Navy Yard Films, an independent film production company based in Brooklyn, NY. An acclaimed writer/producer, his short comedy script “Fly!” was a winner of the Academy Award-qualifying Nashville Film Festival. In addition, his "Family Guy: What The Phuc?!" spec script has either won or placed in almost 25 competitions including the prestigious Austin Film Festival. Dave was also an Executive Producer of the feature film "8-Ball,” a gritty, urban crime-drama starring Paul Ben-Victor from “The Wire” and Johnny "Roastbeef" Williams from “Goodfellas.” Dave has consulted on movie and television projects including the taut action film “Ambushed” starring Dolph Lundgren, Vinnie Jones, and Randy Couture as well as a TV pilot that was sold to Fox for development. He was selected to be the Guest Festival Director of the 2017 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, a Juror of their 2018 festival, and a Screenplay Judge for their 2019 festival. 

ALAN McLANE-ALEJOS is a León, México and Brooklyn based film curator with over 10 years experience in festivals and film education. He has been involved in the New York independent film community, programming series for the Bushwick Film Festival, collaborating as jury member for The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival since 2014 and serving as Guest Festival Director for AoBFF's 10th Anniversary season in 2020. Alan has worked with Cine Las Américas International Film Festival in Austin, and overseas as jury member for the Jaipur International Film Festival, India. Site

LETITIA GUILLORY is a multidisciplinary mixed-media performance artist, writer and educator. Guillory’s solo performances, The Further Adventures of Gussie Mae in America, MAE, and THE (beginning of the End), have received productions throughout the U.S. MAE was chosen by the Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference 2002 to be part of its festival. She has received awards and grants from the Puffin Foundation and NYU, among others. Guillory’s writing credits include the plays Dust of Life, SHELTER: A Photograph of Hope, Dancing in Her Head: The Life of Katherine Dunham, and the horror screenplays LIGHTS OUT!, Hotel California and Grace. Letitia recently received an award from the NYC Parks Dept. for her curation of 'Festival Fridays,' which brings free indie film to outdoor screenings in parks across Brooklyn.

ERIC TRENKAMP has worked in the film industry for the past 25 years, from Hollywood blockbusters to micro budget indie films. Currently, he is the Acting Assistant Chairperson of the Film/Video Department at the Pratt Institute, where he has been a professor for the past nine years. As a writer and director he is an award winning filmmaker whose work has been featured on IFC and Current TV. His feature film American Bomber won awards at numerous film festivals, including the Manhattan Film Festival, Art of Brooklyn Film Festival and Mississippi International Film Festival and is distributed by IndiePix Films, where it was one of their top selling films upon its release. His most recent short, “Park Slope,'' screened at the FICSAM Mental Health Festival in Lisbon, Portugal and the Great Lakes Film Festival, among others. He was the Guest Festival Director for the 2016 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival and is a judge for the Sparrow Film Project at the Museum of the Moving Image. For more info, please visit his IMDB page here and his Pratt Institute faculty page here.