David Egeler
Juror
David Egeler is a Port Townsend-based media educator, screenwriter, and DJ whose relationship to film runs deep on both sides of the camera. He worked on several major theatrical releases, including a stint as an assistant editor, before moving into education — teaching for roughly 26 years, including 16.5 years at Thomas Starr King Middle School in the East Hollywood/Silverlake area of Los Angeles, where he first advised the school's Film Magnet before shifting into environmental education as a Re-Generative Design Leader. A move to Port Townsend brought him full circle: he now teaches Photography, Film Production, and Animation/Graphic Design as the CTE Media Program instructor at Port Townsend High School, and serves as an adjunct instructor with Olympic College Film School. For the past six years, he has written screenplays and short films, a practice born in pandemic isolation, when a long-carried story finally demanded to be written. As DJ David Bonobo, he spent over two decades rooted in the L.A. Rare Groove and Pan-African music scenes, touring Mexico in 2002 with Latin Electronica pioneers Mezklah — a seminal trip that cemented a lifelong bond with bandleader Angel Garcia, now of Spider MonkeyBeats, who has been hired to perform at this year's festival. He produced programs for KPTZ 91.9 FM for eight years, and he's interviewed music artists including Antibalas, Celso Piña, Sidestepper, Lila Downs, and Rocky Dawuni. He co-hosts the annual Noche De Los Muertos with White Lotus Farms, Terror/Cactus, Going Left Productions, and his wife, artist Luz Rosario. This marks his first time serving on a film festival jury.