FELLOWS
Satellite Fellows 2023
Sylvia Ray
A FILMMAKER THAT BRIDGES CULTURAL GAPS
Sylvia Ray is an award-winning Chicana/Korean-American director based in Los Angeles and a 2025 Film Independent Project Involve Directing Fellow. Her work blends emotional truth with grounded realism, often centering BIPOC voices and exploring the moral gray areas of family, loyalty, and identity. Born and raised in Barstow, California, Sylvia’s mixed heritage and desert-town upbringing shaped her storytelling philosophy: that clarity comes from listening to your intuition and confronting life’s messy contradictions with empathy and honesty.
She recently wrapped her Film Independent Project Involve short and is focused on her debut feature, The Middle, a coming-of-age crime drama inspired by her youth in the High Desert. The short version was nominated for Best LatinX Film at the 2024 HollyShorts Film Festival and won Best in Festival at the 2025 Sundial Film Festival. The feature script was a quarterfinalist at HollyShorts and the Atlanta Film Festival and selected for the 2024 FICMonterrey Pro-Meetings Program, the 2025 NALIP Accelerator, and the BendFilm Basecamp Fellowship.
A 2024 Latino Film Institute Inclusion Fellow, Sylvia wrote and directed The Vote, which premiered in partnership with Netflix and won Best U.S. Short at the Post Alley Film Festival. Her previous work includes Preggers, In Limbo, Our Late Father, and My Human Experience. Her short LEN(N)Y streamed globally on Pantaya and DISH! Latino through the Hola Mexico Tomorrow Filmmakers Today program.
THE MIDDLE: A SHORT FILM
Written and Directed by Sylvia Ray
THE MIDDLE is a coming-of-age crime drama that explores themes of grief, female friendship, and ‘ride or die’ culture.
LOGLINE – After her high school crush is accidentally murdered, Joanna Baca must navigate the rippling aftermath and decide whether to tell the truth or protect her family.
The Middle centers around our protagonist, Joanna Baca, who has to decide whether or not to tell the truth after her brother accidentally murders her high school crush, Tyler, after a stupid playful fight turns serious. The guilt of Tyler’s death and the pressure from the circling cops is like a pressure cooker. And things in her life unravel big time.
Ultimately Joanna does make a decision and her life is forever changed. At the end of the film, the audience will be left to interpret if she made the right decision or not, but ultimately we’re left with a feeling of hope as we observe Joanna’s resilience as a young woman and we see her decision to move forward despite all she’s been through.
The film explores universal themes of loyalty, grief, and challenges ride-or-die culture. It speaks not just to small-town misfits and Chicanos who rarely see themselves as multilayered characters on screen, but to anyone who’s had to navigate the difficult terrain of right and wrong.
THROUGH THE BLINDS
An anthology feature film that chronicles the pitfalls of a home through the eyes of seven women over the decades.
Through The Blinds is a collection of seven intimate stories that take place under one roof – from the birth of the 1950s housewife to today’s career-focused millennial and everything in between – tying together the history & transformation of women’s experiences in the American suburban home.
Through The Blinds is led by a band of women filmmakers from marginalized groups that are determined to break down barriers and forge a path for their communities. Currently in the pre-productions stage, the creative team is securing actors, locations, and investments. Proper funding is a huge barrier for indie filmmakers. Through Sylvia’s fellowship with Satellite Collective, the team aims to raise a sizable amount of tax-deductible donations to bring their vision to fruition.
