IMFF 2026 JURY
The 11th Indie Meme Film Festival comes to Austin from April 22 - 26, 2026 and is held at the Austin Film Society Cinemas.
Each year, we assemble a prestigious group of filmmakers, industry experts, veteran film festival programmers and other film aficionados. These esteemed jurors dedicate their expertise to selecting the films deserving of recognition in various categories.
The winners from each category are revealed during the Closing Night Party. These announcements are then accompanied by special citations presented by the jury.
Narrative Feature Jury
Lindsey Ashley
For 20+ years, Lindsey has worked on behalf of the Texas film and production community. As the SXSW Film & TV Industry Relations Manager, she works with agents, distributors, studios, networks and production companies to help them navigate their SXSW Film & TV submissions, programming and festival experience. Previously, she worked at the Texas Film Commission as a Location Scout, Production Consultant and ultimately Deputy Director. Lindsey's background is in Arts Administration, helping to match film, television and commercial projects of all shapes and sizes with filming destinations and available resources. She's a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Radio, Television and Film.
Yen Tan
Yen Tan is a Malaysian-born writer, director, and graphic designer. He premiered the critically-acclaimed "Pit Stop" at Sundance 2013. It was nominated for a John Cassavetes Awards at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards. His NYT Critic's Pick feature, "1985," premiered at SXSW 2018 and was inspired by his Short of the Week of the same title. His latest feature "All That We Love," premiered at Tribeca 2024 and will be released by Vertical this Fall. Yen has been a fellow of Austin Film Society’s Artist Intensive, IFP’s Film Week, and Film Independent’s Fast Track. He was an Out Magazine's OUT100 of 2018. Yen is based in Austin, where he also works as an award-winning key art designer for independent films and documentaries.
Bijan Tehrani
Bijan (Hassan) Tehrani is a film historian, writer, and critic whose career began 46 years ago with the publication of his first article in a weekly film magazine in Iran. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Cinema Without Borders, an online publication dedicated to promotingn international cinema in the United States and around the world, now in its 19th year.
For over four decades, Bijan has served as a columnist and film critic for numerous Iranian newspapers and magazines. In January 2025, he co-founded Cinema B.M. (cinemabm.com), a Farsi-language film publication based in Iran, in collaboration with Abbas Yari, a pioneering figure in Iranian film journalism.
Bijan is also the Director of the International Animation Day Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2025. Through the Cinema Without Borders Foundation, he presents the Bridging the Borders Award at ten international film festivals, including the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival.
A recipient of several awards recognizing his contributions to global cinema, Bijan is currently working on a book exploring the thematic parallels between the films of Asghar Farhadi and Rodrigo García.
He is a member of the Iranian Film Writers & Critics Society, as well as ASIFA and FIPRESCI.
Documentary Jury
Sachin Dheeraj
Sachin Dheeraj is a Producers Guild of America fellow and a Directors Guild of America Student Award-winning filmmaker whose work has been screened at prestigious film festivals such as Hot Docs, Raindance, EnergaCAMERIMAGE, and Kraków. His short documentary film, TESTIMONY OF ANA, won the National Film Award (Swarna Kamal/Golden Lotus) for the Best Non-Feature Film issued by the Government of India and was qualified for the 95th Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Short category. The film also secured distribution on reputable platforms, including Vimeo Staff Picks, MUBI, SIMA Academy, and Kinoscope. Dheeraj won the competitive Panavision New Filmmaker Program Equipment Grant and the UT Graduate Continuing Fellowship (an award given to support the final year of an outstanding graduate student) to implement his short narrative project, MEN IN BLUE, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Yugo BAFTA Student Awards. The film also won the Grand Jury Prize at the 21st Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) and the Special Jury Prize at the 22nd International Student Film and Video Festival (ISFVF) organized by the Beijing Film Academy. Dheeraj is developing a feature-length film, Mouna Tharangam (A Silent Wave), which was awarded the 'New Texas Voices Award' from the Austin Film Society as part of their Feature Film Grant 2023. The project was workshopped in the 2023 AFS Artist Intensive. It was officially selected for the 2025 Tasveer Producers Lab, 2025 IFFLA Connect, 17th edition of the NFDC Film Bazaar's Co-Production Market, a finalist for the 2024 IFFLA Industry Day: Launchpad Competition, and was among the top ten shortlisted finalists for the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories by Tribeca Film Festival 2024. The project also got the 2025 PGA Create Fellowship, won the 2024 SFFILM Rainin Grant, and got into the inaugural DESI LIST curated by THE BLACK LIST.
His other feature project in development, Mano Prapancham (The World Within), was officially selected for the 2024 Produire Au Sud (PAS) Workshop in Nantes, France, and won the 2024 Austin Film Society Feature Film Grant. It also won the 2024 Screenwriters Association of India (SWA) Script Lab and Pitch Fest by becoming one of the top six scripts from about 1300+ submissions after multiple rounds of evaluation.
Stephen Jannise
Stephen Jannise is the Senior Director of Film Programming for the Paramount & State Theatres in Austin, TX. He curates the annual Summer Classic Film Series and Panic at the Paramount horror series along with other screenings throughout the year. Prior to taking this role in 2013, he was Director of Film Programming at Austin Film Festival.
Shorts Jury
Jim Kolmar
Jim is an independent film curator, writer, and consultant with over twenty years of festival experience, notably with South by Southwest Film & TV Festival. His curatorial work includes Curaçao International Film Festival, Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, KINO! Germany Now (Goethe Institute/German Film Office), and PANORAMICA for PLAY Acción Cultural in Spain. Jim's consulting and jury work include Adelaide Film Festival, Cannes Docs, EFM, Locarno Industry Academy, and Sarajevo Film Festival.
Asha Magarati
Asha Magrati is an acclaimed actress, screenwriter, and producer whose work has premiered at major international film festivals, including Venice, Berlin, Toronto, and Locarno.
Her recent work includes Pooja, Sir (2024), which she co-wrote, produced, and stars in as the lead, Inspector Pooja Thapa. The film premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim, with Screen Daily describing her as “a striking presence” and Film Fest Report calling her performance “flawless.” Nominated for the Queer Lion Award, Pooja, Sir has also screened at major festivals including Busan, Göteborg, Tallinn Black Nights, Thessaloniki, and Mumbai, and was Indie Meme 2025’s centerpiece presentation. The film also earned Magrati a Best Actress award at FilmOut San Diego.
Magrati played Durga in White Sun (2016), which won the Interfilm Award at the Venice Film Festival. Variety noted that she “shines as the devoted and extremely pragmatic single mother.” Her performance in Four Nights (2022) further strengthened her international profile, with the film earning a nomination for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Her screen credits also include Highway (2012) and Kagbeni (2008), among many others.
An alumna of Berlinale Talents and the School of Playback Theater, Magrati has an extensive background in theater. She is also the co-founder of Aadi Films, the acclaimed production company behind films such as Pooja, Sir, White Sun, and Highway. In addition to her creative work, she has served on juries at multiple international film festivals, including as Jury Chair at the 2025 Fribourg International Film Festival.
Mindy Raymond
Mindy Raymond is a Texas-based producer, consultant, and passionate advocate for the state’s film and media industry. She co-founded The Shine Company (ShineCo.), where she works with communities to grow creative economies through film production, infrastructure, and tourism. Mindy is also the co-owner of Rolling Reels, a production company behind multiple feature films, including Texas Cult House and A Christmas in New Hope. A former Chair of Women in Film & Television Austin (WIFT Austin) Advisory Board, Mindy has long been dedicated to supporting and elevating voices across the industry. With a career spanning production, policy, and community-building, she brings a unique perspective to every project she touches. She is proud to support emerging filmmakers as a screener for Indie Meme Film Festival and remains deeply committed to championing Texas as a thriving hub for film and media.
