MEET THE CYCLE 01 / 2025 COHORT!
The inaugural Cycle One cohort represents more than just a group of talented filmmakers; they are the architects of our community. By placing their trust in a vision that embraces the "freedom to be a beginner"—a journey we embarked on together—these five individuals became the essential pioneers who defined the very soul of Sonder Pictures.
Get to know our Cycle 01 cohort & their projects below!
Emily Li
Emily Li is an LA-based writer/director, raised in Northern California and Hangzhou, China. She is passionate about exploring complex family dynamics through drama and comedy. Emily also co-founded Arteur Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering AAPI creatives.
Marian Fragoso
PROJECT TITLE: CANCIONES PARA INTROVERTIDES
Marian Fragoso Basauri is a Writer/Director from Tijuana, Mexico, based in New York City, USA. As a real lover and constant dreamer, they use film as a way to imagine people in their communities as well-rounded individuals who can live beyond the lens of an oppressive system. Often opting for slice-of-life films, they choose to celebrate tenderness over trauma while still dealing with themes of loneliness, home, gender, and family. Marian is currently finishing a film festival run for their film Fruits and Veggies that Help Your Projections, a fiction short inspired by their experiences with fatphobia in the household.
Aissata Bah
Aissata is an aspiring dramedy writer that gravitates towards ordinary worlds with brave and imperfect characters that dare marginalized people to be their most messy selves. She is seeking friends, the meaning of life, love, and kinship, and TV writers’ room roles.
Grace Fang
Grace is a Master’s student in Applied Psychology at USC and a UCLA alum. She was formerly a Producer, Director, and Actor in the LCC Theatre Company at UCLA. She hopes to use her storytelling as a means for fostering empathy and bringing underrepresented perspectives to the big screen! She loves all things horror, coming of age, and animation. When she’s not watching films and updating her Letterboxd, she’s going to anime conventions with her friends or collecting Knick-Knacks!
Nicole Klein
Nicole Alejandra Klein is a Texas-born, New York City-based multidisciplinary artist and designer. Her work explores the intersection of religion, the occult, internet subcultures, and girlhood, weaving surrealism, fantasy, darkness, and beauty into compelling visual narratives. Drawing from the folktales and fairytales of her childhood, Nicole develops intricate visual languages influenced by Mexican Catholicism, Americana, digital spaces, and gothic horror.
Blending analog and digital processes, Nicole’s practice embraces traditional mythology, transforming it into contemporary meditations on identity, nostalgia, and the surreal.