The American Film Institute (AFI) announced the filmmakers selected for the AFI DWW+ Class of 2026. Founded in 1974 as the Directing Workshop for Women, AFI DWW+ is a tuition-free year-long directing program, open to all applicants, that supports emerging narrative filmmakers through the production cycle of a short film, providing hands-on instruction led by industry experts. The short films will premiere at the annual DWW+ Showcase in Spring 2026.
The artists selected for the AFI DWW+ Class of 2026 are Ragini Bhasin, Reena Dutt, Maja Fernqvist, Melissa Fisher, Ran Jing, Eunice Levis, Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz and Destinee Stewart.
The eight participants demonstrate a passion for visual storytelling, the tenacity to pursue a directorial career and a willingness to learn and grow, among other program requirements. Each participant went through a rigorous selection process and were ultimately selected from 20 finalists who met with the Final Selection Committee.
AFI also announced that Marie Jamora (AFI DWW Class of 2020) has been named the AFI DWW+ Guest Artistic Director for the Class of 2026.
“AFI’s DWW changed my life – the short film that I produced in the program became my calling card that launched me into the television directing career I aspired to,” said Jamora. “The filmmakers in my class are not just my dearest friends, we continue to provide each other with support and feedback in our ongoing projects. I’m honored to be able to give back to the program that gave me so much, to design the curriculum setting up this amazing new cohort for success. Now more than ever, we need to elevate voices like theirs to contribute to the film industry that we all love and grew up dreaming about.”
Born and raised in Manila, Jamora is an award-winning filmmaker who has directed countless films and television programs, including episodes of Fire Country, The Cleaning Lady and Queen Sugar. Most recently, she directed an episode of the Matlock reboot starring Academy Award® and Emmy® winner Kathy Bates. Jamora’s short film, Flip The Record, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at Urbanworld and was shortlisted for the 90th Academy Awards®. Her first feature, What Isn’t There, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. Jamora also produced and directed a project for Ava DuVernay, created for Starz. After two decades of filmmaking and teaching in the Philippines, she has taught at the AFI Conservatory and Sundance Co//ab. She is one of the leaders of the DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee’s Squad Mentorship program, the founder of the non-profit community organization Cinema Sala, and proudly one of the few Filipinos in the DGA.
Jamora will act as a mentor for the DWW+ participants throughout the production cycle and industry showcase and oversee and direct the artistic curriculum, which is taught by film and television professionals working at top levels within the industry, as well as experienced faculty from the AFI Conservatory.
AFI DWW+ has trained hundreds of artists whose directorial work has entertained global audiences and defined our collective cultural landscape. Distinguished Alums of the AFI DWW+ program include Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft, Neema Barnette, Pippa Bianco, Tessa Blake, Tricia Brock, Ellen Burstyn, Rebecca Cammisa, Dyan Cannon, Dime Davis, Jan Eliasberg, Naomi Foner, Jennifer Getzinger, Lesli Linka Glatter, Lyn Goldfarb, Randa Haines, Siân Heder, Victoria Hochberg, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Matia Karrell, Maggie Kiley, Lynne Littman, Nancy Malone, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Becky Smith, Cicely Tyson and Joanne Woodward.
About the AFI DWW+ Class of 2026:
Ragini Bhasin
Bhasin is a South Asian writer/director and graduate of Chapman University film school who specializes in everyday thrillers and socially conscious films told with a feminist lens. Her shorts have screened at several Oscar®-qualifying festivals, including two recent shorts opening at Palm Springs ShortFest. Her films have also been featured in The Wrap’s ShortList festival, selected as Vimeo Staff Pick, and distributed by ARTE Channel, ShortsTV, Argo Channel and PBS. She received the Meredith MacRae Memorial Award from WIF, was a BAFTA Newcomer (2021–2024), won the 2022 Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge hosted by CAPE and Janet Yang Productions, and was a 2023 Film Independent’s Project Involve Directing fellow.
Reena Dutt
Dutt is dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories of the underheard. Her short film Found is being used to start conversations within the transracial adoptee community, and Too Many Bodies was supported by NoRAnow.org and Survivors Empowered, advocating for gun reform. As a producer, her films have been screened at over 80 festivals including Sundance, Outfest, SF Dance and Frameline. She was a past producing fellow with SFFilm, TAP and Film Independent. Dutt is also a theater director working regionally in the USA and her next production opens in Long Beach in March.
Maja Fernqvist
Fernqvist is a multi-award-winning creative director, with many years of experience in the advertising industry. Fernqvist focuses on telling stories in artful and visually arresting ways. Her work includes music videos, art films, commercials and short films officially selected by film festivals such as LA Short Fest and Brooklyn Film Festival. Fernqvist was chosen by Lionsgate to direct a short film from the Twilight Saga Universe and selected as one of the emerging directors for SHOOT’s 2018 New Directors Showcase. Fernqvist’s work has received recognition from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Clios and British Television Advertising Awards.
Melissa Fisher
Fisher is an accomplished director, writer and multi-hyphenate in the industry with over 12 years of experience on Academy Award®-winning sets such as Damien Chazelle’s La La Land and First Man, and Emmy Award®-winning shows like Glow and The Dropout. A graduate of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film, Fisher’s directorial work merges technical skill with poetic imagery to create emotionally evocative drama, tackling social justice themes and highlighting marginalized communities. Fisher’s recent short Buscando Alma focused on immigration and gender identity, and won numerous awards including the Oscar®-Qualifying Jury Award at Atlanta’s Out On Film Festival.
Ran Jing
Jing is a transnational writer and director, acclaimed for her debut feature Model, which was featured in Variety China, won multiple awards at Academy Award®- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, and had a theatrical release in China. Named one of ISA’s Top 25 Writers to Watch, Jing has written features for Ruyi Films. A former storyboard artist at Blue Sky Studios, she worked on blockbusters such as Spies In Disguise, The Peanuts Movie and the Ice Age franchise. Her extensive experience in both Hollywood and China profoundly informs her passion for crafting nuanced, character-driven stories that explore themes of identity and belonging.
Eunice Levis
Writer and director Levis is a first-generation Dominican American from the Bronx, New York. Levis’ work focuses on genre-bending stories that explore technology, race, gender, history and diaspora identity. She was most recently a 2024 NALIP Media Accelerator fellow, and a Starz #TakeTheLead Writer’s Lab Intensive fellow. Levis was previously a Stowe Story Lab Fellow and a Netflix/NALIP Women of Color Short Film Incubator fellow. Her latest short, Ro & The Stardust, a bilingual space fantasy, is currently streaming on Netflix. Levis is a film adjunct professor and holds an MA from New York University.
Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz
Martin-Berkowicz is a writer and director whose work explores desire, power dynamics and the female gaze. Her television writing credits include Amazon’s Cruel Intentions and I Know What You Did Last Summer. As a director, Martin-Berkowicz’s short film Scotty’s Vag premiered at SXSW and is now streaming on Vimeo, where it received a Staff Pick. Her previous short, In Sync, premiered at the Maryland Film Festival and is streaming on NoBudge. Martin-Berkowicz is a 2024 Sony Pictures TV Diverse Directors fellow and is developing her feature directorial debut. She holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University.
Destinee Stewart
Stewart is a director and writer from Dallas, now based in Los Angeles, who explores identity, resilience and connection. Her most recent film, The Other Partners, premiered in 2024 at the Oscar®-qualifying RiverRun Film Festival, and her feature, Wade In The Water, a psychological horror, has been supported by BendFilm: Basecamp and the Cucalorus Writing Residency. She is developing her proof-of-concept short film for her feature Wade In The Water. Previously, she led international dubbing productions for Netflix, collaborating on global projects like Love Is Blind, Represent and In His Shadow.
