about

The First Peak Film Festival was first launched in 2022 by Muhlenberg students and faculty with the focus of making a festival by students for students. Our mission is to create a platform for student filmmakers in the Lehigh Valley to showcase their films. We strive to provide student filmmakers with an experience in festival culture and networking as they start their careers. The festival focuses on highlighting films with diverse stories and voices, experimentation, community, thought-provoking, and visually rich.

Jury

Festival Director, Co-Founder

David Romberg is a Latin American filmmaker supported by the Tribeca Film Institute’s Latin American Media Arts Fund, Heineken VOCES Grant, The Princess Grace Foundation Grant and the IFP Documentary Labs Program. David is also a fellow of the Robert Flaherty Seminar and was awarded a Princess Grace Special Project fund to develop his upcoming docu/fiction film “The Return”. As an assistant professor at Muhlenberg College, he teaches courses in experimental documentary, Latin American cinema and fiction filmmaking.

PR & Social Media Manager, Co-Founder

Kayla Rivera is a recent graduate from Muhlenberg College and holds a BA in Media & Communication and Gender & Sexuality Studies. Her work has mostly been done behind the scenes or in the form of research. In 2023 she was awarded her College’s James D. Schneider Award for Social Justice, this award honors the work that Kayla has done to research and advocate for gender justice.

Event Coordinator, Co-Founder

Joe Romano is a Pennsylvania filmmaker who studied Media and Communication, Film Studies, and Documentary Storymaking at Muhlenberg College. His work ranges from documentary to fiction, and even experimental. His films have played nationally and internationally at various film festivals, and his filmmaking experience is ever-growing. Finding the most interesting and appropriate ways to tell his stories through varied visual languages is what Joe looks to do in his work.

Outreach & Program Coordinator, Co-Founder

Amira Jackson is a Pittsburgh native studying Theatre and Film at Muhlenberg College. She has always been interested in sharing and portraying stories about the African American experience! She has made 5 films that show the positives and hardships of what being African American is like in fictional worlds, but also reality. She has had the honor of studying abroad in the Czech Republic to have a better understanding of film from a global perspective and she is excited to be back in the states working on the board of the First Peak Festival! She is also working on her Senior Thesis Film “The Figure”

Program Coordinator

Madison Fearon is a senior at Muhlenberg College studying Media & Communication, Film, and Documentary Storymaking. Her work is mostly focused behind the camera or in the editing room. She has worked as a cinematographer and editor on many short documentaries and promotional films. She has recently worked internationally with the Cuala Foundation to highlight the voices and stories of underrepresented populations in Dublin Ireland.

Treasurer

Rosy Vinod is a student at Muhlenberg College pursuing a double major in Media and Communications and Finance. She has written and directed three short films and is currently a film fellow on a feature documentary (In Love in Memory), which details the haunting legacy of urban renewal in Allentown. Additionally, she is the standing field producer for a speculative feature film, SILK, and a member of the No Evil Eye Cinema Film Futura collective. Currently, she is President of Muhlenberg’s Film Association and is in post-production for her latest short film, Scared to Choke.

Technical Producer

Tony Dalton is a media technologist at Muhlenberg College, assisting students, faculty, and staff with mediamaking, audio-visual, and information technologies. As a practitioner, Tony provides a wide array of services, including A/V systems and integrations, audio and videomaking, and web and graphic design. Tony has competed and won awards in several iterations of the Philadelphia 48-hour Film Festival as a film editor. Additionally, Tony serves as the designer and co-founder of the Muhlenberg Memories Project.