2026 JURies
Juries
We are honored to have an all-star lineup of filmmakers, producers, and distributors serving as jurors for the Walla Walla Movie Crush. Each individual provides a unique perspective, assuring the winners are deemed the best by a diverse and talented group of esteemed industry professionals. Follow us on Instagram or Crushworthy as we announce future juries!
best documentary
Erin Brown Thomas
Vanessa Hope
Victor Buhler
Naja Pham Lockwood
photo by Steve Korn
Geeta Gandbhir
Alex Sichel Memorial Award
Gaby Catabijan
Gaby Catabijan is based in Los Angeles and currently works in the Film Publicity Team at Netflix, where she has championed a diverse slate of original films ranging from global blockbusters to awards contenders. Born and raised in Manila, she brings a global perspective and an interdisciplinary foundation to her work, fueled by a triple degree in Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Cinema Studies. Gaby’s passion lies at the intersection of creative storytelling and business strategy, bridging artists and audiences through impactful campaigns. Through her work, she is dedicated to building a more inclusive global film landscape that amplifies underrepresented voices and talent on the world stage.
Mandy Fabian
Mandy Fabian grew up in a no-stoplight town in Texas and, at 16, moved to Austin to become the youngest member of a professional sketch comedy troupe before attending Vassar College to major in film. (What? I know. Her parents thought that too.)
Since then, Mandy co-created and directed The Young Hillary Diaries and the Amazon Emmy-winning digital series Dropping the Soap, and is in pre-production for her next feature, “WHITE,” an adaptation of Snow White
Mandy lives in London with her husband, actor Patrick Fabian, and her two daughters. For more information and pictures of her wearing makeup for maybe the only time ever, visit mandyfabian.com
Erika Kreutz
Ericka Kreutz is a writer, actress, photographer, and filmmaker. Her first film, MAMA, is a raw documentary-style short on the strain of everyday mothering and won the Curator’s Choice Award at the Walla Walla Movie Crush in 2025. As an actress, she can be seen in Dead to Me, Better Call Saul, Barry, The Handmaid's Tale, The Pitt, and others. She lives with her husband and two boys in Los Angeles. Most days, there is a dryer ball tossed near her head.
photo by Steve Korn
Golden Owens
Golden M. Owens explores and teaches about representations of race and gender, artificial intelligence, haunting, popular culture, and racialized sounds and voices. Her first book project examines intelligent virtual assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, contending that these aides evoke and are haunted by Black women slaves, servants, and houseworkers in the United States. Dr. Owens' work appears in Sounding Out! and the Journal for Cinema and Media Studies. Her research has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, the Social Science Research Council, the Mellon Foundation, and UW’s Simpson Center.
Anastasia Sichel-Hahn
Anastasia Sichel-Hahn is a Cinema and Media Studies student at Carleton College in Minnesota, passionate about art in all forms, and helping present the Alex Sichel award in honor of her mother, Alex Sichel