filmmakers
Christopher Cunetto
Director, Writer
Christopher Cunetto is an award-winning filmmaker, visual artist, and creative strategist based in Washington, DC. Beyond his work in commercial video, his narrative film has been screened at diverse venues - from the premiere of his short film Jeux, a love letter to DC LGBT nightlight, at local bar Number 9, to a selection of shorts celebrating Iberian poets at The Kennedy Center. He recently completed post-production on a short he wrote and directed, titled Gateway, about a grieving widower’s desperate attempt to reconnect with his late wife using a fringe-science meditation technique.
“A filmmaker, artist, and designer by trade, I'm a passionate creative leader hell-bent on making things that move people. I have built a creative career on top of my passion for incredible visual experiences, my technical skills, my commitment to showing up and doing the hard work, and a belief that art and story are the most effective tools to inspire action in those around us.”
Mauricio Pita
Executive Producer
A Venezuelan-American actor, director, and producer. Mauricio is Arena Stage’s current Community Programs Manager where he oversees the Voices of Now program (VON) which produced two feature docudramas during the pandemic and most recently nine short films for the 2022 VON festival at Arena Stage. Mauricio served as Creative Producer for the 2020-2021 Virtual Season of IN Series Opera. His projects with IN Series included the film Orphée et Eurydice, the audio play A Fairy Queen, and the interdisciplinary film/theater piece Boheme in The Heights. All three were featured on DC Metro Theater Arts’ 2021 lists of outstanding productions. In addition.
Mauricio worked previously with Christopher Cunetto as a producer on his latest short, Gateway.
Eva von Schweinitz
Story By, Writer
Eva is a German-American interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. Her films, both documentary and narrative, have screened at Tribeca Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and others. Eva was a pitch finalist at Tribeca Film Institute's If/Then Documentary Program in 2018. Her short film Heads or Tails won Best Short Film at Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival 2017 and her projection design for Measure for Measure (Public Theater) was nominated for the Henry Hewes Design Award 2018. She was the Associate Designer on Arguendo (The Public) which received an OBIE Award for Outstanding Projection Design. Fellowships and residencies: 2018/2019 Devised Theater Working Group (Public Theater), 2018 Harvestworks Artist-in-Residence, 2017-2018 The Civilians' R&D Group. Eva holds a B.A. in Film from International Filmschool Cologne and an M.F.A. in Performance and Interactive Media Arts from Brooklyn College.
Fernando Rocha
Cinematographer
Fernando Rocha is a Mexican-American Cinematographer based out of the U.S. East Coast whose work spans both scripted and unscripted genres. He is a 2022 Southern Exposure Film Fellow and Part 107 certified Drone pilot. Fernando was also selected as a 2022 Sundance X Adobe Ignite Fellow, a program which “identifies and supports new voices and talent from the next generation of filmmakers by providing artistic and professional development to advance filmmakers to the next stage in their filmmaking.” In 2021, Fernando won a Fulbright Grant in order to create a short-documentary project about water rights and accessibility in the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador.
Fernando’s visual approach merges the organic and intimate nature of documentary film-making with the attention and care to detail of the narrative field in order to create a visual language that is right for each story regardless of genre. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C. and was a member of the school’s prestigious Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars program. He has also supplemented his studies at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles as well as the FAMU Conservatory in Prague, Czech Republic.
Tepui Media
Production Company
Founded by Mauricio Pita in 2021, Tepui Media is a new interdisciplinary arts company based in Washington, D.C. Tepui Media’s mission is to produce bold films and plays about people navigating remarkable events.
Tepuis are table-top mountains in the Guiana Highlands of South America that host a unique array of endemic plant and animal life. The word Tepui, pronounced (The -‘poo -ee), means house of gods in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the region.
Inspired by these powerful ecological islands of the sky, Tepui Media aims to provide a unique ecosystem of support and a platform for exciting new stories and emerging artists Click here to learn more about Tepui Media.
Ryan Walsh
Music by, Composer
Northwest guitarist and composer, Ryan Walsh, began his journey with the instrument on the hillsides of the Columbia River in his hometown of Astoria, Oregon. His passion for guitar later took him to study with the masters in Spain, where he would receive his formal training at the Conservatorio Superior de Sevilla. Now that he has returned to Oregon, he has quickly ascended as one of the region’s most recognizable performers, meeting with critical acclaim on numerous concert stages, and his eclectic mix of music appearing in films and broadcasting over the nation’s airwaves.
cast
Mauricio Pita
as Cesar
A Venezuelan-American actor, Mauricio’s early breakthrough roles include the Bridegroom in the 2013 New York stage production ofBlood Wedding by Federico García Lorca, which earned him a nomination for Best Male Breakthrough Performance from the New York ACE (Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York/New York Entertainment Journalists Association). He continued his stage career with multiple collaborations with The Kennedy Center, Studio Theatre, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Theatre 167, Repertorio Español, Superhero Clubhouse, The Bushwick Starr, and Columbia University. Mauricio was featured in the film You, Me, Bathroom, Sex, Now directed by Francisco Lupini. The film became an official selection at the Festival de Cannes and went on to receive multiple awards in film festivals including Best of Festival at the Palm Springs Shortfest, Jury Award at the NCGL Film Festival, Best Comedy at the Global Accolade Film Competitions, Audience Choice at the Cinema Diverse Film Festival, and Best LGBT Short Film at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival.
Mauricio is a proud member of Actors Equity Association (AEA), Mauricio is a graduate of the Acting Program at Marymount Manhattan College and the Shakespeare Conservatory for Actors at Yale University.
Jonathan Adriel
as Bear
Jonathan Adriel is an award-winning actor and dancer based in the Washington, DC area. He has performed on many stages in the DMV including Ford’s Theatre in The Wiz – and fondly remembers a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama for the performance and after-show backstage conversation. He was in the first class of men to dance in The Washington Wizards’ NBA Dance Team. His favorite work was at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, North Carolina where he worked as Dance Captain and child-actor wrangler.
Jonathan is a former DC Public School educator and professor of Dance ad Howard University. He is a member of the Actors Equity Association and is a graduate of Winthrop University with a BA in Dance and Theater Performance. He holds a Master of Education from Strayer University.