Our Team
Productions
Aleta Hammerich
Aleta Hammerich is a local filmmaker and graduate of the UH Mānoa School of Cinematic Arts. She is a videographer and editor for Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking and the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series. Her past works include The ‘Ilima Lady (Camera, Assistant Editor, 2023), Homestead (Camera, 2023), and Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi (2021). Aleta is passionate about using filmmaking as a platform to share women’s and LGBTQIA+ stories.
Social Worker
Alexa St. Martin
Alexa St. Martin, LSW is a social worker, therapist, educator, researcher, musician, dancer, and writer. She is a fierce advocate for social justice education, with a particular passion for adolescent sexual health, school-based sexual health education, reproductive rights, and consent.
Productions / Filmmaker Instructor
Martha Nicholas
Martha Nicholas is a filmmaker born and raised in Honolulu. She graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa with a double major in Creative Media and American Studies. Alongside interning for Regional Emmy™ award Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi, Nicholas has experience as a cinematographer and assistant editor on ‘Ilima Lady documentary. She is also a previous Wāhine in Film Lab fellow and a filmmaking mentor and instructor for Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking. Nicholas continues to explore multiple avenues within the film industry.
Productions
Malia Adams
Indigenous filmmaker Malia Adams, born in Kailua and raised in Chile, holds a Creative Media degree from UH Manoa and a Master's in Media and Literary Translation from Pompeu Fabra University. Her short film, I Will Be Your Breath (2021) earned accolades at the Hawaiʻi International Film Fest and Cannes Short Film Festival. A 2023 Wāhine in Film Lab Fellow, she is in pre-production of Pa‘ahana, a deeply personal and culturally significant short film that speaks to the themes of identity, belonging, and healing within the context of Hawaiian culture. Currently, she serves as a Technical News Director, bringing her storytelling expertise to news. Malia works as a freelance videographer, showcasing her versatile skills across various projects. Part of the Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking Production Services Team since 2021.
Founder and Executive Director
Vera Zambonelli
Dr. Vera Zambonelli is an Emmy™ award winning filmmaker, educator, and researcher based in Hawaiʻi. She founded Hawaiʻi Women in Filmmaking in 2011 to promote gender equity in the film industry, and launched initiatives like the Wāhine in Film Lab and Making Media That Matters, providing support for thousands of women and genderqueer individuals in Hawaiʻi with funding in part from the National Endowment for the Arts, Gerbode Foundation, Advancing Girls Fund at Tides Foundation, and Hawai‘i People’s Fund. Vera co-produces and co-directs Reel Wāhine of Hawaiʻi series and teaches at the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu Academy for Creative Media. She is part of the Indie Media Arts Group Advisory Committee, a member of the Creative Resurgence Collective, and has recently spearheaded the Hawaiʻi Film and Media Arts Coalition.