"Solidarity" is Nancy Kiang's first professionally shot film.  In desperation during her last year of grad school studying biometeorology, she finally pursued a childhood interest in film, taking off a summer to enroll in a New York Film Academy workshop in 2002, for which she wrote, produced, and directed the atmospheric semi-experimental short film “Butterfly Dreams” (16 mm, 10 min.). Personal identity - the true nature and existence of a man - was the theme in that film, and in "Solidarity" she moves on to the abstract treatment of social identity (adapting a short story by Italo Calvino). While making "Solidarity," Nancy was  a Filmmaker-in-Residence at Film/Video Arts, a New York City based independent film organization for whose nurturing support she is highly grateful. She is currently developing scripts for three features, a mystery and two historical films, while working as a research scientist in astrobiology at NASA.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Demian Barba began working as a production assistant on film sets when he was 16, and studied film, philosophy, art history, and dramaturgy at the University IberoAmericana. In 2001, he came to New York City, graduating from the New York Film Academy, where he is now a teaching assistant while free-lancing as a Director of Photography. He has shot numerous short films, commercials, and a few features, in a variety of film and digital formats. "The Enchanting Box" (dir. Katharine Allen) was selected as a short film to precede Timothy Burton's latest movie at the 2005 Gotham City Short Film Festival.  An emerging cinematographer with talent for the straight narrative to the avant-garde, Demian Barba's reel may be viewed at http://demian.sinergism.com.

Hailed by the Village Voice as, “clever… scintillating...engaging,” Richard Carrick’s multi-media work Cosmicomics (video by Peter Nigrini, based on text by Italo Calvino) was enthusiastically premiered by the Sequitur Ensemble in Merkin Hall in 2005.  Richard Carrick’s music is regularly performed in North America and Europe, where he also performs as pianist. Notable performances include those of the ISCM World Music Days 2004, Vienna’s Lange Nacht Festival (Konzerthaus), The Nieuw Ensemble (Amsterdam), Sequitur Ensemble, Ensemble-On-Line (Vienna), MATA, The Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Auros Group, Flinders Quartet, Royaumont Festival, Wellesley Conference, and soloists Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Ernest Rombout and Ernestine Stoop.  Richard founded and co-directs the Either/Or Ensemble, a chamber ensemble in NYC presenting new and important un-conducted chamber music. He received a PhD from UC-San Diego, attended the Koninklijk Conservatorium of Den Haag (Holland) and Ircam (Paris), and holds a BA in music and mathematics from Columbia University. More information on Richard Carrick's work may be viewed at http://www.richardcarrick.com.