Jess X. Snow

Jess X. Snow (they/them/他) is a non-binary filmmaker, multi-disciplinary artist, poet and thesis candidate in the directing MFA program at NYU Tisch. Spanning community-informed murals, narrative films, children's books and coming of age fiction—their body of work reimagines mental (un)wellness, intergenerational practices of care and kinship across cultures and species, and abolitionist futures. Their short films, centering the desires, disobediences and dreams of flawed Chinese migrant queers—have screened at festivals globally. Their stories have been supported by the National Film Board of Canada, the Tribeca Film Institute, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for Science in Film, and residencies at the NYU A/P/A Institute, the Bandung Residency (Asian American Arts Alliance + Museum of African Diasporic Arts), amongst others. 

They are working on an augmented reality public art series imagining community futures where we heal from and transcend anti-Asian violence. Their short, Roots That Reach Toward The Sky (2023), a inter-generational drama about Chinese medicine, community art, and mutual aid is in post-production. Their picture books include We Always Had Wings, (Make Me a World / Randomhouse) forthcoming in Fall 2023 k The Ocean Calls, (Kokila/Penguin Kids), a Kirkus and Booklist best picture book of 2020. Alongside When We Were Dragons, their debut feature and YA novel, they are also working on a narrative feature screenplay, with co-writer, Alán Pelaez Lopez, exploring Black/Asian intimacies and time travel in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Jess has been selected as one of two 2023 recipients of the Kyoko Arai Fund, a gift made possible by Kyoko and Yuki Arai (NYU Stern '10, MBA), who hope to encourage diverse voices and stories in the film industry.