IndieX Film Fest Annual Awards 2026 is proud to welcome Janelle Christa as a guest speaker for the Industry Panel during the festival’s 6th annual edition, taking place on May 30, 2026, at Regal LA Live in Los Angeles.

A multi-award-winning filmmaker, actress, screenwriter, and director, Janelle Christa has become one of the festival’s returning standout alumni voices over the past several years.

A 2-time IndieX alumna, she has had three films screen at the festival and returns this year with her latest nominated project, Our Father, which will also screen during the Annual Awards showcase.

Janelle first gained major recognition at IndieX Film Fest with her experimental short Transcendent, which won Best Experimental Short of the Year, Best Original Screenplay of the Year, and Best Editing of the Year during the Annual Awards 2024. The visually driven and emotionally layered film established her as a distinctive voice in experimental and spiritually resonant storytelling.

She later returned to the festival with two projects — Liminal, nominated for Best Experimental Short, and Wish, nominated for Best Music Video at the Annual Awards 2025 — continuing to expand her cinematic language through atmospheric imagery, psychological themes, and emotionally immersive filmmaking.

This year, Janelle is once again part of the IndieX Film Fest annual lineup with Our Father, a new project that further explores personal and introspective storytelling through a visually expressive and emotionally grounded approach.

Known for blending experimental structure with deeply human themes, her work often navigates identity, transformation, spirituality, grief, memory, and emotional healing.

In addition to her filmmaking work, Janelle Christa has worked professionally as an actress for over twenty years.

She holds a Film & Television certification from NYU Tisch and earned a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting & Cinema from the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts, experiences that have helped shape her multidisciplinary and artist-driven creative voice.

The Industry Panel

🕓 5:00 – 6:00 PM · Cinema 10
🎟️ Tickets on sale now

One of the highlights of the 6th Annual IndieX Film Fest will be the Industry Panel, bringing together filmmakers and industry professionals for an open conversation about independent filmmaking, artistic process, storytelling, and navigating creative careers across multiple disciplines.

As both an actress and filmmaker, Janelle Christa brings a particularly compelling perspective to this year’s panel conversation. Audiences can expect insights into balancing performance and directing, building emotionally driven experimental cinema, and developing independent projects rooted in personal vision and artistic authenticity.

Her long-standing relationship with IndieX Film Fest — returning across multiple years with award-winning projects — also reflects the evolving journey of independent filmmakers as they continue to grow artistically while remaining connected to the festival community.

Festival attendees will also have the opportunity to watch Our Father during the Annual Awards screenings at Regal LA Live, where filmmakers and industry guests from multiple countries will gather for a full day of screenings, networking events, and the evening Awards Show.

Our Father · Program 7 | Cinema 9 · 2:35 – 4:15 PM

The 6th Annual IndieX Film Fest features 65 films from 18 countries across 11 screening blocks and 3 auditoriums.

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